The path of light;

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A

ZTbe Mtsoom of tbe Bast Series

EDITED BY

L. CRANMER-BYNG

Dr. S. A. KAPADIA

THE PATH OF LIGHT

WISDOM OF. THE EAST

THE PATH OF LIGHT

RENDERED FOR THE FIRST TIME
INTO ENGLISH FROM THE BODHI-
CHARYAVATARA OF SANTI-DEVA

A MANUAL OF MAHA-YANA BUDDHISM
BY L. D. BARNETT, M.A., LITT. D.

NEW YORK

E. P. BUTTON AND COMPANY

1909

PRINTED BY

HAZELL, WATSOK AND VINEY, LD.,

LONDON AND AYLH8BCRY,

ENGLAND

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION 7

I. THE PRAISE OF THE THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTEN-
MENT 37

II. THE CONFESSION OF SIN . . . .40

III. TAKING THE THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTENMENT . 44

IV. HEEDFULNESS IN THE THOUGHT OF EN-

LIGHTENMENT 48

V. WATCHFULNESS 53

VI. THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING . .59

VII. THE PERFECT STRENGTH . . . .73

VIII. THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION . . .82

IX. THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE . . . .92

NOTES 95

APPENDIX . 103

2005633

EDITORIAL NOTE

object of the Editors of this series is a
-I- very definite one. They desire above all
things that, in their humble way, these books
shall be the ambassadors of good-will and
understanding between East and West the old
world of Thought and the new of Action. In
this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they
are but followers of the highest example in the
land. They are confident that a deeper know-
ledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy
of Oriental thought may help to a revival of
that true spirit of Charity which neither despises
nor fears the nations of another creed and
colour. Finally, in thanking press and public
for the very cordial reception given to the
" Wisdom of the East " Series, they wish to state
that no pains have been spared to secure the
best specialists for the treatment of the various
subjects at hand.

L. CRANMER-BYNG.
S. A. KAPADIA.

NOBTHBBOOK SOCIETY,

185 PICCADILLY, W.

THE PATH OF LIGHT

INTRODUCTION

' "TTTHEN the religion formerly received is
V V rent by discords," remarks Bacon in his
subtle essay on the " Vicissitudes of Things,"
" and when the holiness of the professors of
religion is decayed and full of scandal, and withal
the times be stupid, ignorant, and barbarous,
you may doubt the springing up of a new sect ;
if then also there should arise any extravagant
and strange spirit to make himself author thereof.
If a new sect have not two properties, fear it not,
for it will not spread : the one is the supplanting,
or the opposing of authority established for
nothing is more popular than that ; the other is
the giving licence to pleasures and a voluptuous
life : for as for speculative heresies (such as
were in ancient times the Arians, and now the
Arminians), though they work mightily upon
men's wits, they do not produce any great altera-
tion in States, except it be by the help of civil

8 INTRODUCTION

occasions. There be three manners of planta-
tions of new sects : by the power of signs and
miracles ; by the eloquence and wisdom of speech
and persuasion ; and by the sword. For martyr-
doms, I reckon them amongst miracles, because
they seem to exceed the strength of human
nature ; and I may do the like of superlative and
admirable holiness of life."

So far as his range of knowledge extended,
Bacon's remarks are true. But when we attempt
to apply them to the history of Buddhism, we
find that they need considerable qualification.
Buddhism arose in an age when " the holiness of
the professors of religion," the influence of the
Brahman hierarchy in India, was " decayed and
full of scandal." But the times, far from being
" stupid, ignorant, and barbarous," were full of
eager intellectual and moral activity ; on all
sides ancient doctrines were being reaffirmed by
their professors and assailed by critics, while new
systems of thought were rising everywhere. The
Buddha himself was not an " extravagant and
strange spirit," but a man whose thought in
essentials was thoroughly in harmony with the
ideas of Hinduism, and whose character fulfilled
a Hindu ideal. His Church did indeed endeavour
to supplant the authority of the Brahmans ; but
it sought to attain this end neither by " the giving
licence to pleasures and a voluptuous life," nor
by the sword. Its marvellous success was due to

LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA 9

" the eloquence and wisdom of speech and j
persuasion " and to " the superlative and admir- f
able holiness of life " of the Buddha.

About a hundred miles north from Benares, on
the border of Nepal, where the plain of the
Ganges begins to rise to the uplands at the edge
of the mighty Himalayas, lies a little region
which was once the home of the Sakyas, a class
of Kshatriyas, or men of the warrior caste. To
Suddhodana of Kapila-vastu, a nobleman of the
Gautama family of this tribe, was born about
560 B.C. a son Siddhartha. When he grew up
Siddhartha likewise married and begot a son,
Rahula by name. And then, when he was about
twenty-nine years of age, as tradition relates,
Siddhartha became weary of the world and the
flesh. The ghastly riddle of Life Life with its
endless vicissitudes of phantom pleasure and
ever-renewed pain was ceaselessly pressing itself
upon him, as it has pressed itself upon so many
thousands of other Hindus, and he could find
no rest in his father's home. So he left the world,
to become a wandering beggar-student, in the
hope of finding the key to the great mystery in
the teachings of some master of philosophic lore.
But none of the teachers whom he met could
satisfy the hunger of his soul, and the severest
mortifications of the flesh brought him no light.

One day, as he sat meditating in the shadow
of a fig-tree, his long searchings of heart came to

10 INTRODUCTION

an end, and the answer to the mystery of life was
revealed to him. Henceforth he was the Buddha,
the Enlightened Seer, who had won the perfect
peace of spiritual knowledge, the Nirvana l ;
and the remaining years of his long life were
passed in imparting his teaching for the salvation
of his fellow-creatures, and thus founding the
Buddhist Church, until about 482 B.C., full of years
and honour, he departed to the supreme Nirvana.
When we examine the doctrines which appear
to have been taught by the Buddha," we see that
they are founded upon two ancient conceptions
that are characteristic of Hindu thought : the
pessimistic idea of Karma, and the Samsara,
" works " and " wandering." According to the
usual Indian creed, the universe is tenanted by
a countless number of souls in various degrees of
elevation ; and each of them must pass through
an endless number of births and deaths in the
most various kinds of bodies. Every moment
of experience that each soul undergoes in each
incarnation is the direct result of an act per-
formed in a former birth or later, and in its turn
bears fruit in a future experience, thus forming
a series of sorrows without beginning and without

1 See below, p. 18.

2 On this subject the reader will do well to study the latest,
and in several respects the best, summary, Boiiddhisme :
Opinions sur VHistoire de la Dogmatique, by Professor L. de
la Vallee Poussin (Paris, 1909).

THE BUDDHA'S "MIDDLE PATH" 11

end. For life, however pleasant it may seem, is
in reality but a long illusive agony, from which
only the few escape who by their perfect spiritual
insight win to identity with the transcendental
Being, Brahma.

Now the Buddha, according to the ancient
tradition of the Pali Canon, dissented from this
teaching on one very important point. He
denied that there is a soul in the individual, and
that there is a God, or Supreme Being, working in
the manifold phenomena of the universe. Of
course he believed in gods : no Hindu has ever
seriously called them into question ; but the
gods, according to him, differed only in degree
from mankind, and neither class possessed that
permanent centre of thought, tTiat unchanging
identity of consciousness, which we call " soul "
or " self." Our thoughts are never quite the
same from second to second ; our mental life is
only a series of causally connected instants of
consciousness. By this denial the Buddha
thought that he could more readily remove the
moral and intellectual weakness of humanity
which is founded upon the conception " I am " ;
for if there is no real subject of thought, no
" soul " or " self," it cannot predicate its own
existence, and therefore cannot conceive selfish
desire. And desire is the root of embodied life,
and therefore of all evil.

The Buddha therefore taught a " Middle Path,"

12 INTRODUCTION

equally remote from worldly ways and from
extreme asceticism, the " Noble Path of Eight
Members." The members of this Path are as
follows : Right Views, or acceptance of the
Buddha's teachings which we have above set
forth ; Bight Desires, or pure aspirations making
for righteousness, charity, and purity of heart ;
Right Speech ; Right Conduct ; Right Livelihood ;
Right Effort, or constant intentness to avoid
lapses into frailties of thought or conduct ; Right
Mindfulness, or continual dwelling of the memory
on the teachings of the Faith for the same purpose ;
and Right Ecstasy, or spiritual exercises tending to
promote the peace and sanctity of the mind.
This "Noble Path" is one of the four "Noble
Truths " which are the pillars of the Buddha's
system to wit, the fact that life is miserable,
the fact that its misery has a cause, the fact that
this cause can be killed and thereby the sorrow
of life removed, and the fact that the " Noble
Path " is the only method that can attain this
end, for it destroys the selfish individualism
inherent in the human mind, the "original sin,"
and creates a universal knowledge and sym-
pathy and a spiritual calm and purity which are
salvation.

The Buddha's doctrine as to the real nature of
Being and consciousness was expressed in a
famous formula, called in Sanskrit Pratltya-
samutpdda and in Pali Patichcha-samuppada,

MEMBERS OF "CAUSAL SERIES" 13

which means " origination in a causal series."
The members of this series are as follows :

Ignorance (Sanskrit, avidyd ; Pali, avijja).

Conformations (Sanskrit, samskdras ; Pali, sam-
fchdrd).

Consciousness (Sanskrit, vijndna ; Pah', vinndna).

Name and Form (Sanskrit and Pali, ndma-rupa).

Six sense-organs (Sanskrit, shad-dyatana ; Pali,
saldyatana).

Contact (Sanskrit, sparda ; Pali, phassa).

Feeling (Sanskrit and Pali, vedand).

Desire (Sanskrit, trishnd ; Pali, tanhd).

Attraction (Sanskrit and Pali, updddna).

Being (Sanskrit and Pali, bhava).

Birth (Sanskrit and Pali, jdti).

Age and Death (Sanskrit and Pali, jard-marana),
grief, lamentation, pain, depression, and despair
(Sanskrit, soka-paridevana-duhkha-daurmanasya-
upaydsa).

There are very few dogmas in the whole history
of philosophy and religion that have been so
copiously discussed and so differently interpreted
as this. It seems to be an attempt to show how
individual existences and consciousnesses arise
in the cosmic process. According to Buddhist
teaching, there is no permanent " soul " and
there is no real " matter." There exists only an
infinite number of series of consciousnesses either
potentially or actively in operation, and each
series consists of a succession of moments of

14 INTRODUCTION

consciousness, each moment being the direct
resultant of its predecessors. Now the force which
directs this process in each series is its karma, or
" works," the influence of former activities, mostly
in previous births ; it is by reason of its former
karma that a train of consciousness at a particular
moment begins to develop itself into an " indi-
vidual," that is to say, a consciousness of being
a particular person, human, divine, or animal.
So we may interpret the Buddha's formula as a
vague expression for the manner in which the
individual emerges from the ocean of cosmic
being. First in order is " ignorance " ; that is
to say, when we analyse the operation of karma
upon a train of moments of consciousness, we
find that its primary effect is to cause ignorance,
namely, the false belief held by this consciousness
that it is a " self," an ego, and the other con-
sequent delusions. This ignorance, in turn, issues
in "conformations," the potentialities of love,
hatred, and the like weaknesses of the spirit,
which are the resultants of activities in previous
individuated existences, and inspire to future
activities. Then emerges consciousness of finite
being in general, and from this issue " name and
form," the conception of a definite world of
particulars. This leads to the evolution of the
sense-organs, and the union of these with the
apparent world outside them produces sensation,
which issues in desire. In its turn desire leads to

"NAME" AND "FORM" 15

" attraction," the attachment to individual life.
So finite existence, bhava, is at last reached, and
the developed consciousness passes through the
stages of birth, disease, sorrow, and finally death.
Then the process begins anew under the guidance
of the old karma, reinforced by that which has
resulted from the process that has just come to
an end. If this interpretation be right (and it
must be confessed that several others are equally
plausible), it is evident that the formula is by
no means satisfactory on all points ; the causal
connection between several of the members in
the series in the Pratltya-samutpada is far from
being clear, and can only be regarded as a dogma
post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

An individual, according to Buddhist teaching,
does not really exist ; but the semblance of an
individual, the phenomenal personality, is a fact
that cannot be denied, and must be explained.
The Buddhists explain it by saying that it is a
combination of Name and Form. In " Name "
are included all the subjective phenomena of
thought, namely, feeling, general notions, " con-
formations," and definite consciousness, which
are called " aggregations " (in Sanskrit, skandhas ;
in Pali, khandhas). " Form," meaning the four
elements of physical nature (earth, water, fire,
and air) and their products, is a fifth khandha. As
we have seen, the force that unites these five
khandas into an apparent individual or person-

16 INTRODUCTION

ality is what is called in Sanskrit karma, in Pali
kamma, the resultant of all his previous acts.
" When a man dies, the khandhas of which he is
constituted perish, but by the force of his kamma
a new set of khandhas instantly starts into exist-
ence, and a new being appears in another world,
who, though possessing different khandhas and
a different form, is in reality identical with the
man just passed away, because his kamma is the
same. Kamma, then, is the link that preserves
the identity of a being through all the countless
changes which it undergoes in its progress through
Samsara." * Now the great purpose of Buddhism,
like that of most Hindu faiths, is to enable the
believer to reach the perfect spiritual peace of
Nirvana, and thus come to an end of the cycle
of embodied births. To attain this object he
must destroy his kamma ; and this can be done
by walking in the " Noble Path," which will
infallibly lead him, either in his present birth or
later, to final salvation.

This is, in broad outline, the teaching of
Buddhism as it is understood by most Buddhists
in Ceylon and Further India. In theory it verges
upon nihilistic idealism, for it regards all the data
of finite experience as pure subjective phenomena
corresponding to no objective reality, and created
merely by the force of karma ; there is no higher
Power than man's own will, and his karma to
1 Childers, Pali Dictionary, s.v. khandho.

THE BUDDHIST CREED 17

help him towards salvation. On the deepest
mysteries of existence, the origin of karma and
the condition of the spirit after it has passed
away for ever from the cycle of births, Buddhism
has nothing to tell us. In practice it is a creed
that fosters in its votaries in abundant measure
both the homely virtues of laic life, and the
higher spiritual aspirations of asceticism ; and
its ideals are well expressed in one of its best
known texts, the Mangala-sutta of the Sutta-
nipata :

" Following not the foolish, following the
learned, reverence for the worshipful this is the
highest blessing."

" Dwelling in a meet land, merit from deeds
done of old, due heed to one's own spirit this
is the highest blessing."

" Depth of learning, craftsmanship, gentle
breeding well taught, words well spoken this
is the highest blessing."

" Service to father and mother, the company |
of wife and child, and peaceful pursuits this is
the highest blessing."

" Almsgiving and righteousness, the company \
of kinsfolk, blameless works this is the highest l
blessing."

" Withholding and withdrawing oneself from I
sin, abstinence from strong drink, needfulness in '
doing duty this is the highest blessing."

" Reverence and humility, cheerfulness and ,

2

18 INTRODUCTION

gratitude, listening in due season to the Law
this is the highest blessing."

" Long-suffering, gentleness of speech, sight of
| godly men, conversation upon the Law in due
season this is the highest blessing."

" Mortification of the flesh and chastity, vision
\ of the Noble Truths, and winning to the Nirvana
this is the highest blessing."

" He whose spirit is stirred not when he is
touched by the shows of the world, but abides
unsorrowing, undefiled, and happy this is the
highest blessing."

" They who do thus, and are never overwhelmed,
come ever to salvation theirs is this highest
blessing."

But an important question arises here. Are
the doctrines which we have outlined the original
teaching of the Buddha, or do they not rather
represent the opinions of the school which formed
the Pali Canon some centuries after his death a
monastic fraternity with a strong bent towards
rationalism ? . Even in this Canon the teachings
ascribed to the Master are full of logical incon-
sistencies. What then was the Master's own
doctrine ?

Certain knowledge on this point is impossible.
But it seems most likely that the Buddha's real
attitude was somewhat like that of the positivist
and agnostic. He had no revelations to commu-
nicate on the highest problems of philosophy and

ESCAPE FROM THE KARMA 19

theology. Sometimes he seems to have inclined
in his utterances to one side, sometimes to
another ; but this was apparently for the sake
of argument, and there seems to be much truth
in the tradition which represents him as having
forbidden his followers to speculate upon the
deepest questions of life. Even of Nirvana he
refused to give any definition ; when the question
was bluntly put by an inquiring monk, he was
told that he would never know anything about
it. It is even doubtful whether his denial of
the Self was an essential part of his doctrine,
or whether it was only adopted for purposes of
controversy. His great aim was practical. He
sought to impart a remedy for the world's sorrow,
to teach his fellow-creatures an escape from their
karma and its fatal fruit of earthly birth. This
remedy was the utter destruction of desire, even
of the desire for salvation. It could be attained
by the man or woman who renounced the world,
entered into the monastic order, followed the
" Noble Path," and in perfect calm and happiness
of spirit waited until death should open the
portals of the unknowable, everlasting Stillness
from which there is no return. Karma and its ]
resultant metempsychosis were to him facts of j
practical experience, and could be remedied by
an empirical method, the suppression of desire
under a practical law of conduct ; as to their
metaphysical basis he made no revelation. It

20 INTRODUCTION

is as the departed Teacher of the way to Nirvana,
as the Master, that he is worshipped by the
orthodox.

But there were other elements in the doctrine
of early Buddhism which could not fail to bear
fruit. As we have already remarked, it lays
stress on the impermanence of beings : nothing
finite exists in itself, everything is a collection
of skandhas temporarily united. It is, in fact, a
theory of " phenomenalism," and thus opened a
way for development in two directions. On the
one hand there grew up a school of nihilism,
which dialectically established the non-existence
of everything ; on the other hand arose an
idealism which arrived at very similar conclu-
sions.

In another and more practical issue the newer
teaching departed from the old. The Buddha
Gautama, according to the doctrine of his Church,
was preceded by twenty-four other Buddhas,
each of whom is supposed to have preached the
same Law in different ages of the world. Now
a Buddha can only attain the rank of Buddhahood
after a long course of spiritual progress in former
births of the most various kinds. A being thus
destined to Buddhahood is called a Bodhi-sattva,
or " creature of enlightenment." At some point
in his existence he has conceived an aspiration
to become a Buddha for the salvation of his
fellow-creatures, and thenceforth he advances in

THE OLDER BUDDHISM 21

birth after birth to higher and higher sanctity
in the practice of the ten Perfections l until at I
last he is born as the Buddha, preaches the Law,
and passes away into the everlasting stillness of
Nirvana. A vast amount of Buddhist literature
consists of Jdtakas, or legends of the deeds in
which the Bodhi-sattvas proved their fitness for
their high mission.

It was around these points that the breach
arose which split the Church into the divisions
which we commonly and somewhat inaccurately
distinguish as Northern and Southern Buddhism.
The older Buddhism that we have surveyed in
outline did not give enough play for the elements .
of mysticism and emotion that have always been !
strong in the Hindu spirit. Its saints, the
Arhats, were regularly ordained members of
monastic fraternities, who sought salvation for
themselves and denied Nirvana to laymen ; and
though their deeds of charity and other righteous-
ness were incontestable, it was argued that their
merit was marred by this self -seeking. Its I
theology was very sober, according to Indian I
standards ; it tended towards intellectualism,
and allowed little room for the large and highly
coloured mythological imagination in which the

1 The Paramitds, or Perfections, according to the chief
Northern schools, are almsgiving, morality, long-suffering,
manliness, meditation, mystic insight (prajna), resolution,
strength, knowledge, and skill in choice of means (updya).

22 INTRODUCTION

Hindu thought revels. Now during the early
centuries of Buddhism the Vishnuite Church grew
rapidly, and the spirit that inspired it was stirring
likewise in Buddhism. This force was what the
Hindus call bhakti, a passionate emotional wor-
ship of a supreme God revealed on earth in human
personality. Many Buddhists also longed to find
a supreme God, to whom they could offer a wor-
ship of the heart, and whose personality could
satisfy their restless imaginations. Thus arose
upon the old foundations a new Church, a vast
and gorgeous edifice of soaring fancy tenanted
by countless Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas trans-
figured into a magnificent brilliance of godhead
and worshipped with a passionate fervour of
self -surrendering love. The new Church held out
to all alike the dazzling hope of Buddhahood.
Every man, however humble or sinful, might
become a Bodhi-sattva, a candidate for Buddha-
hood, and finally reach that blessed end, if he
would but will it so and hold to his purpose.
Love for the holy Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas of
the past, the omnipotent and omnipresent hier-
archy of Heaven, and love for his fellow-creatures,
manifested in perfect self-sacrifice for their needs,
active compassion and charity, were the prime
requisites for salvation. Inspired by this vivid
energy, the new Buddhism speedily took posses-
sion of Northern India, Tibet, Central Asia, and
China.

THE NEW BUDDHISM 23

That this movement was antinomian and '
fraught with danger from the first, is obvious.
Its doctrine of love unfettered by considerations
of social expediency and ordinary morality, 1 and
the wild luxuriance of its myth, were capable of |
working harm as well as good, and in practice
have often lent themselves to the most dis-
graceful abuse. But on this dark side of the
picture we need not dwell here. It is enough
that we should recognise that the Mahd-ydna,
the " Great Vehicle," as the new Church proudly
called itself, in opposition to the more primitive
Buddhism, which it scornfully styled Hlna-ydna,
the " Little Vehicle," laid especial stress upon
the emotional side of religion and ethics, which
had been somewhat neglected in the latter school,
and that it thus gained a novel character and
significance.

In the doctrine of the older schools the Buddha
was a teacher whose enlightenment raised him
above all the gods, but withal a man, who had .
passed away from the world for ever, and could j
no more wield any influence upon it, save as a 1
holy and blessed memory. His Nirvana was the
same as that of any other man who should attain i
it. He dispensed no divine power to bring his {
followers to salvation ; only their own efforts

1 In justice to some theologians, such as SSnti-deva, it
must be said that they endeavoured to correct this anti-
nomiarusm ; but they hardly succeeded.

24 INTRODUCTION

could win for them that goal. Man's destiny is
moulded by his own acts, his " karma," and each
individual's karma concerns him alone, and can-
not be applied for the spiritual weal of another.
Lastly, as we have already remarked, salvation
was confined to the monastic orders.

The Maha-yana changed almost everything.

{The Buddha now appeared as a god of the first
order, invested with all the qualities that the
most extravagant mythopceic imagination could
suggest. Like the conception of Christ in the
Docetic schools, he was imagined as existing
throughout the whole of the cosmic period, in
the " Body of Enjoyment " visible to the beatified
Bodhi-sattvas, and the " Body of Magic Form "
revealed to common mortals ; and he was multi-
plied to infinity. Imagination created countless
periods and countless domains, each under the
presidency of a Buddha ; and from the beginning
of our era we observe that the historical Gautama
Buddha, even in his most mythical disguise,
begins to fall into the background, whilst other
figures of purely mythical origin become the first
: favourites of popular fancy. The most con-
r spicuous of these is the Buddha Amitabha, " He
of Infinite Light," a being of supreme splendour
and grace ; for now the Buddhas have become
active dispensers of grace, at any rate from the
standpoint of relative truth. Each Buddha
dwells in his paradise amidst a retinue of Bodhi-

THE BUDDHA AMITABHA 25

sattvas ; of the latter the two highest in rank
serve as the ministers of his grace, constantly
visiting the worlds under his rule in the forms
most suitable to their purpose, in order to show
their love for suffering mortality by helping them
in divers ways and leading them to paradise. .
The paradise of Amitabha is Sukhdvati, " The i
Happy Place," a fairyland which is tenanted by
an entirely divine population dwelling in perfect
bliss. 1 Amitabha's chief minister is Avalokite- \
svara, a Bodhi-sattva who has taken a vow not
to enter Nirvana until he has led thither all living
creatures, and who for this supreme grace is
worshipped throughout the North with a corre-
sponding fervour of devotion. As a last develop-
ment of this mythology, the Buddhas are asso-
ciated with Taras, or Saviour-Ladies, who under
the form of sexual antithesis typify their consorts'
energy of grace.

The moral standpoint is likewise changed.
The ideal is no longer the calm, ascetic monk, I
waiting in cheerful tranquillity for the end, but
the Bodhi-sattva, the self-appointed votary seek-
ing eagerly to procure happiness for his fellow-
creatures at any cost, even if he must surrender
his own right to spiritual advancement as the
price. For now is affirmed the principle of

1 One of the most popular Mahayanist texts is the Suk-
havati-vyuha, which is a detailed description of this fairy-
land.

26 INTRODUCTION

parinamand : the karma of an individual is
no longer confined to his experience, but can be
made to redound to the benefit of others. The
righteous can, of their own free will, sacrifice the
merit of their own good deeds for the happiness of
their fellow-creatures . Strictly speaking, as we shall
see, the ideas of " self," " non-self," " happiness,"
and " suffering " are illusions. They are real
only from the standpoint of relative truth. But
this condition of imperfect reality is inseparable
from humanity ; it must be accepted and made
the basis of a moral activity which by perfect
self-sacrifice purifies the spirit from the taint of
finite error. And so Santi-deva ends his Bodhi-
chayavatdra with a chapter of prayer that the
merit gained by him by his work may not only
uplift him to the higher grades of beatification
as a Bodhi-sattva, but may be also diverted for
the benefit of fellow-creatures.

" Through the blessing which comes to me for
pondering upon the entrance into the Path of
Enlightenment, may all beings be brightened by
walking in Enlightenment. May all that are
sick of body and soul in every region find oceans
of bliss and delight through my merits. Whilst
embodied life lasts on, may they never lack
happiness, and for ever may the world win the
joy of the Sons of Enlightenment. In all the
hells that are in the spheres of the universe may
creatures rejoice in the delights of paradise. May

THE PATH OF ENLIGHTENMENT 27

they that are afflicted with cold find warmth, the
heat-smitten be cooled in the oceans raining
from the mighty clouds of the Son of Enlighten-
ment. . . . May all skies be gracious to all way-
farers, and may they encompass as they purpose
the enterprise for which they journey. May
such as travel on ship achieve their desire, and
come in happiness to shore and rejoice with their
kindred. May they who stray amid wildernesses
find company of travellers' troops, and journey
on without dread of bandits and wild beasts.
In the stress of sickness, wildernesses, and the
like may the heavenly powers guard the slumber-
ing, the distraught, and the heedless, the master-
less, the young, and the aged. May they be for
ever saved from all mischance, dowered with
faith, understanding, and tenderness, and pos-
sessed of goodly shape and virtue. May their
storehouses never fail and their treasuries rise to
the skies, and may they live in freedom, without
strife or affliction. May beings of little strength
win much strength, and the hapless creatures
that are of ill form become goodly. May all
women in the world become men ; and to their
estate may the humble come, and lose their
vanity. Through this my merit may all beings
cease from every sin, and everlastingly do
righteousness, lacking not the Thought of
Enlightenment, surrendering themselves to the
Path of Enlightenment, withholding their hands

28 INTRODUCTION

from the works of the Tempter, and be taken into
the arms of the Enlightened. May all creatures
have boundless term of age ; may they live for
ever in bliss, and the very name of death perish.
May all regions become filled with Buddhas
and Sons of the Buddhas, 1 and lovely with groves
of the Trees of Desire ravishing the heart with
the sound of the Law. ... As long as the
heavens and the earth abide, may I continue to
overcome the world's sorrows. May all the
world's suffering be cast upon me, and may
the world be made happy by all the merits of
the Bodhi-sattva."

In its metaphysics the Maha-yana carried to
a logical conclusion the nihilistic idealism that
had begun to find expression in the older schools.
Its cardinal doctrine is that " all is void." Every-
thing that is conceived or can be conceived by the
mind is but a subjective imagination in constant
flux, existing only in instants of the thought of
the subject and by virtue of his karma. No
permanent reality can be predicated of it, except
that it is really " void." " There are five
skandhas,* and these he considered as by their
nature empty. Form is emptiness, and emptiness
indeed is form. . . . Thus perception, name,
conception, and knowledge also are emptiness.
Thus, O Sariputra, all things have the character
of emptiness, they have no beginning, no end,
1 Bodhi-sattvas. 2 See above, p. 15.

TEACHING OF THE MAHA-YANA 29

they are faultless and not faultless, they are not
imperfect and not perfect. Therefore, O $ari-
putra, here in this emptiness there is no form,
no perception, no name, no concept, no know-
ledge. No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and
mind. No form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and

objects There is no knowledge, no

ignorance, no destruction (of ignorance) ....
there is no decay and death, no destruction of
decay and death ; there are not (the Four
Truths, 1 viz.) that there is pain, origin of pain,
stoppage of pain, and the path to it. There is no
knowledge, no obtaining^ no not-obtaining, of
Nirvana. Therefore, Sariputra, as there is
no obtaining (of Nirvana), a man who has ap-
proached the Prajna-paramita 2 of the Bodhi-
sattvas dwells (for a time) enveloped in conscious-
ness. But when the envelopment of conscious-
ness has been annihilated, then he becomes free
of all fear, beyond the reach of change, enjoying
final Nirvana." 3

Thus everything, even the most fundamental
doctrines of Buddhism and the existence of
Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas, is denied..

But the negation is not intended to be absolute.
The Vedantic metaphysicians could find no term
to predicate of Brahma, the absolute, transcen-

1 See above, p. 12. 2 See above, p. 16.

3 From the Larger Prajna-paramitd-hridaya-sutra, trans-
lated in Sacred Books of the East, vol. xlix.

I

30 INTRODUCTION

dental Reality, but " Nay, nay ! " And it is
rather in this sense that we should interpret the
negations of the Maha-yana philosophers. They
predicate nothingness of everything but that
1 which is beyond all predication, the inconceivable,
I transcendental All. They felt that this was a
reality too vast for words, a truth before which
the thought must be still. But yet they felt it
as mysteriously revealing its existence in their
moral consciousness, as a divine glory faintly
reflected in the soul of man, and they called it
the Dharma-kdya, the " Body of the Law " ; for
in the stillness of this transcendental unity of
joy and love and peace all spirits are one, and
this is the Law of the Buddha. Thus the
Buddhists, like the Vedantis, were able to accept
two spheres of reality. One was the absolute
truth, the " Void "; the other was that of relative
truth, in which they could rear their edifices of
doctrine and myth. Of the Buddha and his
Law they could, in transcendental truth, say only
" No ! " As practical realities they affirmed them
heartily.

Being and thought are one, in the opinion of
these Buddhist idealists ; in the objects of thought
there dwells no reality except the thought which
conceives them. Now the highest Being is the
" Void," and the understanding of this is the
" absolute truth," the " enlightenment " (bodhi)
or " perfect wisdom " (prajnd-pdramitd), which

THE "BODY OF THE LAW" 31

is the peculiar possession of a Buddha. This
knowledge is actually realised by a Buddha in
the ecstasy of his Nirvana, where he dwells for
ever in the utter stillness of infinite thought.
But it sometimes happens that a Bodhi-sattva
who, through the perfection of his wisdom and
righteousness, is ripe to enter Nirvana, will not
take this step, for his abounding compassion
urges him to remain in finite being, and to soothe
the sorrows of his fellow-creatures. His passage
into Nirvana is then potential, capable of being
realised at his will. This enlightenment in
Nirvana, actual or potential, together with the
" Void " which is its object and therefore is
identical with it, is the Dharma-kdya, the " Body
of the Law."

But the needs of history and myth must
also be satisfied ; and the Maha-yana achieved
this by inventing two more conceptions, the
Sambhoga-kdya, or " Body of Enjoyment,"
and the Nirmdna-kdya, or " Body of Magical
Form."

Every Buddha has a domain of his own, or
buddha-kshetra, a universe under the rule of the
Law preached by him. The magnificence of such
a domain is proportionate to the nobility of the
deeds performed by its ruling Buddha during his
probation as a Bodhi-sattva. In these domains
the reigning Buddhas are revealed to their
attendant Bodhi-sattvas in gigantic radiant

32 INTRODUCTION

forms, surrounded by lialos composed of magical
figures of Buddhas. 1 These forms, though mani-
fest to the sanctified senses of the divine company,
are essentially spiritual ; and the Buddhas
wearing them are constantly teaching their holy
Law to the Bodhi-sattvas of highest rank, who
appear in similarly transfigured bodies. This
beatific form is the Sambhoga-kdya or " Body
of Enjoyment." It is the fruit of the merit
acquired by the Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas
through countless deeds of liberality, long-
suffering, and virtue. It dwells in the celestial
sphere until the far-away day when the Buddha
shall enter into his final Nirvana ; then in
its place will appear a stupa, or monument-
sanctuary, and the Buddha will rest in perfect
stillness.

In the case of the Buddhas this transfiguration
is, strictly speaking, illusory. The Buddhas
have passed into Nirvana, the Void ; they are
identified with the " Body of the Law," in which
finitude does not exist. But the merit of their
good deeds still lives on in the finite world, and
becomes a force working spontaneously for the
happiness and welfare of other creatures. It
thus creates in the minds of the holy Bodhi-
sattvas the conception of a " Sambhoga-kaya "

1 Abundant illustration will be found in the art of Northern
Buddhism, especially in the frescoes of the recently dis-
covered temples of Chinese Turkestan.

of their Buddha revealing itself for their joy and
instruction in beatific form. 1

While this theory of the " Body of Enjoyment "
satisfied the hunger of the imagination for visions
of paradise, the doctrine of the " Body of Magical
Form " attempted to explain the appearance of
Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas in the world of
mortality. They never really appeared among
men, and never will so appear, according to the
Buddhist sages ; they were but illusions, phan-
toms which the Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas in
their " Bodies of Enjoyment " created from their
compassion to help and instruct the blind and
sorrowing creatures of the world. Even as the
Buddhas' merits have been turned to the profit
of the Bodhi-sattvas by conjuring up before their
eyes the vision of their transfigured forms in
paradise, so this same force brings blessing to
the lower classes of beings by creating for them
apparitions of Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas teach-
ing the Law in the most diverse guises. And
this idea has also its metaphysical side. We
have seen that, to the Buddhist philosopher, the
subject and the object of thought are really one,
so that the Dharma-kaya represents at once the
Infinite and the understanding of the Infinite.

1 This explanation is due to M. L. de la Valise Poussin, in
his article The Three Bodies of a Buddha, in the Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society, 1906, p. 943 foil. The reader should
also consult Suzuki's Outlines of Mahd-ydna Buddhism.

3

34 INTRODUCTION

In the same way the " Body of Magical Form "
represents also the universal Intellect when,
under the influence of samskdras or " conforma-
tions " resulting from former moments of con-
sciousness and will, it conceives its object as a
universe of finite forms. Thus the universal
Intellect issues in what appear to themselves to
be individual minds dwelling in finite worlds
under the dispensation of the Buddhas. This
seeming individuality and finitude is the con-
genital illusion of the lower orders of creatures,
from which the Law of the Buddhas alone can
uplift them to union with the Absolute.

The current of mystic imagination which
culminated in this bold theology seems to have
arisen early. Possibly it may, in a rudimentary
form, have been one of the elements of primitive
Buddhism which were rejected as heretical by the
more puritanic schools of the " Hina-yana."
Certainly it was already well established before
the Christian era, and the famous Council of King
Kanishka gave official recognition to the Maha-
yana doctrines, and apparently granted to them
the royal favour. If modern research is right
in identifying the date of Kanishka's accession
with the initial date of the Samvat era, 58 B.C.,
then the Council traditionally believed to have
been held under his auspices must have sat not
many years afterwards.

To a somewhat later date may be ascribed a

THE WORK OF NAGARJUNA 35

half-legendary, half-historical character that is
of singular interest. The real Nagarjuna, the
scholar who founded the Madhyamika school,
is overshadowed by the legendary Nagarjuna,
the hero of a hundred myths in which he figures
as a miracle-working saint who propagated his
doctrine by the marvels of his magic. These
wild legends have passed from Buddhist circles
into the common stock of Hindu tradition,
where he has become a typical sorcerer, to whom
are ascribed many works on the black art and
divination, notably the popular Kaksha-puta.

The real work of Nagarjuna, however, was much
more respectable. He systematised the old
Maha-yana into the Madhyamika school, which
by its vigorous dialectic became one of the most
effective vehicles of Northern Buddhism. And
it is to a follower of his school, ^anti-deva, who (
lived in the seventh century, or possibly some- '
what earlier, that we owe two works, the Bodhi-
charydvatdra and the tiiksha-samuchchaya, in
which are embodied the keenest logic and the
highest spiritual aspirations attained by the
Buddhism of the North.

The following pages contain an abridged
translation of the original Sanskrit of the Bodhi-
chary avatar a, based upon two editions, that
contained in vol. ii. of the Journal of the Buddhist
Text Society (Calcutta, 1894) and that pub-
lished with Pranjakara-mati's commentary by

36 INTRODUCTION

Professor L. de la Vallee Poussin in the Biblio-
theca Indica. 1 I have omitted a good deal of
the text where it seemed needlessly prolix, and
the whole of the scholastic disputation which
makes up the bulk of the ninth chapter. But I
hope that even in this curtailed form my transla-
tion will enable readers to understand and fairly
appreciate the fervent devotion and brotherly
love which make this little book, in spite of its
errors, a lasting monument of true religious
emotion, " an everlasting possession."

1 I have much pleasure in acknowledging my debt of
gratitude to Professor Poussin's masterly French translation
of the text published in the Revue d'Histoire et de Literature
Rdigieuses, vols. x.-xii. (1905-1907) under the title Bodhi-
carydvatara : Introduction a la Pratique des futurs Bouddhas.

CHAPTER I

THE PRAISE OF THE THOUGHT OP ENLIGHTENMENT

~T)EVERENTLY bowing before the Blessed
*- Ones, their Sons, the Body of the Law, and
all the worshipful ones (1), I will briefly set forth
in accordance with Holy Writ the way whereby
the sons of the Blessed Ones enter the godly life.
Nothing new will be told here, nor have I skill
in writing of books ; therefore I have done this
work to hallow my own thoughts, not designing
it for the welfare of others. By it the holy impulse
within me to frame righteousness is strength-
ened ; but if a fellow-creature should see it, this
my book will fulfil another end likewise.

This brief estate, which once gotten is a means
to all the aims of mankind, is exceeding hard
to win ; if one use it not for wholesome reflection,
how shall it ever come again to his lot ? As in
the night, amidst the gross darkness of the clouds,
the lightning shews for an instant its radiance,
so by the grace of the Enlightened it may hap
that the mind of man turn for an instant to holy
works. Thus righteousness is feeble, and the
power of evil is constant, mighty, and dire ; by
what righteousness could it be overcome, if there

37

were not the Thought of Enlightenment ? (2)
Pondering through many aeons, the Supreme
Saints have found this blessing, whereby a
swelling joy sweeps in sweetness down the bound-
less waters of mankind. They who would escape
the hundreds of life's sorrows, who would end the
anguish of living creatures, and who would taste
hundreds of deep delights, must never surrender
the Thought of Enlightenment. The wretch held
in thrall by Life's minions (3) is declared a son of
the Blessed Ones straightway when the Thought
of Enlightenment arises in him, and he becomes
worshipful to the worlds of men and gods. This
foul form that he has taken he makes into the
priceless jewel of a Conqueror's form ; oh, grasp
firmly the Thought of Enlightenment, that
exceedingly potent elixir ! Ho, ye who are exiles
in the marts of bodied being, grasp firmly the
precious jewel of the Thought of Enlightenment,
which the immeasurably wise sole Guides of the
world's caravan have well assayed ! Like the
plantain- tree (4), all other righteousness fades
away after its fruit is cast ; but the tree of the
Thought of Enlightenment bears everlasting fruit
and fades not, but is ever fecund. Though he
have wrought most grievous sins, a man by taking
refuge therein escapes them straightway ; as
ignorant beings under the guardianship of a
mighty man escape sore terrors, why seek they
not their refuge in this ? , . .

THE MASTER OF THE BANQUET 39

Eager to escape sorrow, men rush into sorrow ;
from desire of happiness they blindly slay their
own happiness, enemies to themselves ; they
hunger for happiness and suffer manifold pains ;
whence shall come one so kind as he who can
satisfy them with all manner of happiness, allay
all their pains, and shatter their delusion whence
such a friend, and whence such a holy deed ?
He who repays good deed with good deed is
praised ; what shall be said of the Son of En-
lightenment, who does kindness unsought ? He
who sets a banquet before a few is called a " doer
of righteousness," and is honoured by the world,
because in his pride he entertains men for half a
day with a brief largesse of mere food ; but what
of him who bestows on a measureless number of
creatures a satisfaction of all desires unbounded in
time and perishing not when the world of heaven
perishes ? Such is the Master of the Banquet,
the Son of the Conqueror ; whosoever sins in his
heart against him, saith the Lord, shall abide
in hell as many ages as the moments of his sin.
But he whose spirit is at peace with them shall
thence get abundant fruit ; and truly, wrong to
the Sons of the Conqueror can be done only by
great effort, but kindness towards them is easy.
I do homage to the bodies of them in whom has
arisen the choice jewel of the Thought, and even
the ill-treatment of whom leads to happiness (5) ;
in these mines of bliss I seek my refuge.

CHAPTER II

THE CONFESSION OF SIN

To win this jewel of the Thought I offer perfect
worship to the Blessed Ones (6), to the stainless
gem of the Good Law, and to the Sons of the
Enlightened (7), oceans of virtues. All flowers,
fruits, and healing herbs, all gems and all waters
clear and pleasant in the world, likewise moun-
tains of jewels, forests sweet in their solitude,
climbing plants bright with ornaments of flowers,
trees whose branches bend with goodly fruit,
fragrant incenses, trees of desire, and jewel-
bearing trees in the worlds of the gods and their
kin, lakes bedecked with lilies and wondrously
pleasant with the cries of swans, harvests spring-
ing without tilth and crops of grain, and all else
adorning them whom we worship, all things that
are bounded by the spreading ethereal sphere
and are in the possession of none, I take in spirit
and offer as guerdon to the Supreme Saints and
their Sons. Worthy of choicest gifts and great
of compassion, may they mercifully accept this

40

TO THE ENLIGHTENED ONES 41

of me ! I am exceeding poor, and without
righteousness ; there is naught else for me to
offer. So may their care for others' weal be for
my weal, and let the Lords take this in their
native grace. Yea, I give to the Conquerors and
their Sons myself entirely. Take me for your
chattel, O noble beings ; I make myself in love
your slave. By being your chattel I am freed
from fear in life, and work good for living crea-
tures ; I escape my former sins, and do evil no
more. . . .

With as many obeisances as there are atoms
in all the Domains (8) I adore all the Enlightened
Ones of the past, present, and future, the Law,
and the noble Congregation. I worship all the
memorial-sanctuaries and the dwellings of the
Son of the Enlightened (9) ; I salute the pre-
ceptors and the worshipful holy men. I take
refuge with the Enlightened One, awaiting the
coming of the perfect Light ; I take refuge in
the Law and the Congregation of Sons of En-
lightenment. With clasped hands I make sup-
plication to the Enlightened Ones dwelling hi all
regions and to the most merciful Sons of En-
lightenment. Whatsoever be the sin that I, poor
brute, in my beginningless round of past births
or in this birth have in my madness done or
made others do or approved for my own undoing,
I confess the transgression thereof, and am
stricken with remorse. Whatsoever wrong I

42 THE CONFESSION OF SIN

have done by sin against the Three Gems (10) or
father and mother or other elders by deed, word,
or thought, whatever dire offence has been
wrought by me, a sinner foul with many a stain,

Masters, I confess all. How may I escape from
it ? Speedily save me, lest death come too soon
upon me ere my sin have faded away. Death
considers not what works be done or not done,
and strikes us through our ease, a sudden
thunder-bolt, unsure alike for the healthy and
the sick.

For the sake of things unloved and things
loved have I sinned these many times ; and
never have I thought that I must surrender
everything and depart. They whom I love not,
they whom I love, I myself, shall be no more,
naught shall remain. All the things whereof I
have feeling shall pass away into a memory ;
like the vision of a dream, all departs, and is
seen no more. The many whom I love or love
not pass away while I stand here ; only the dire
sin wrought for their sake remains before me. I
understood not that I was but a chance comer,
and through madness, love, or hatred I have
wrought many a sin. Unceasingly through night
and day the waning of vital force increases ; must

1 not die ? Lying here on my bed, or standing
amidst my kin, I must suffer the agonies of
dissolution alone. Whence shall I find a kins-
man, whence a friend, when the Death-god's

THE FEAR OF DEATH 43

messengers seize me ? Righteousness alone can
save me then, and for that I have not sought.
Clinging to brief life, I have been blind to this
terror, heedless ; my Masters, grievous guilt
have I gathered. He who is taken to be maimed
of his limbs at once withers away ; thirst racks
him, his sight is darkened, the world is changed
to his sight. How then will it be with me when
I am in the charge of the Death-god's hideous
messengers, consumed by a fever of mighty terror,
covered with filth, looking with timid glances
to the four quarters of heaven for aid ? Who will
be the friend to save me from that awful terror ?
I shall see in the heavens no help, and sink back
into madness ; then what shall I do in that place
of horror ? Now, now I come for refuge to the
mighty Lords of the world, the Conquerors eager
for the world's protection, who allay all fear ;
to the Law learned by them I come with all my
heart for refuge, and to the Congregation of the
Sons of Enlightenment. . . . Whatsoever guilt
I have gathered in my foolishness and delusion,
alike the wrong of nature and the wrong of
commandment, I confess it all as I stand before
the Masters with clasped hands, affrighted with
grief, and making obeisance again and again.
May my Lords take my transgression as it is ;
never more, O Masters, will I do this unholy
work.

CHAPTER III

TAKING THE THOUGHT OP ENLIGHTENMENT (11)

I REJOICE exceedingly in all creatures' good
works that end the sorrows of their evil lot ; may
the sorrowful find happiness ! I rejoice in the
deliverance of embodied beings from the griefs
of life's wanderings, and in the Sonship of
Enlightenment, and the Enlightenment that
belongs to the Saviours. I rejoice in the
Commanders' (12) oceans of Thought, that bring
happiness and establish welfare for all creatures.
With clasped hands I entreat the perfectly
Enlightened Ones who stand in all regions that
they kindle the lamp of the Law for them who in
their blindness fall into sorrow. With clasped
hands I pray the Conquerors who yearn for the
Stillness (13) that they abide here for endless seons,
lest this world become blind. In reward for all
this righteousness that I have won by my works I
would fain become a soother of all the sorrows
of all creatures. May I be a balm to the sick,
their healer and servitor, until sickness come

44

SELF-SURRENDER 45

never again ; may I quench with rains of food
and drink the anguish of hunger and thirst ; may
I be in the famine of the ages' end their drink
and meat ; may I become an unfailing store for
the poor, and serve them with manifold things for
their need. My own being and my pleasures, all
my righteousness in the past, present, and future
I surrender indifferently, that all creatures may
win to their end. The Stillness lies in surrender
of all things, and my spirit is fain for the Stillness ;
if I must surrender all, it is best to give it for
fellow-creatures. I yield myself to all living
things to deal with me as they list ; they may
smite or revile me for ever, bestrew me with dust,
play with my body, laugh and wanton ; I have
given them my body, why shall I care ? Let
them make me do whatever works bring them
pleasure ; but may never mishap befall any of
them by reason of me. If the spirit of any be
wroth or pleased with me, may that be ever a
cause for them to win all their desires. May all
who slander me, or do me hurt, or jeer at me, gain
a share in Enlightenment. I would be a pro-
tector of the unprotected, a guide of wayfarers,
a ship, a dyke, and a bridge for them who seek
the further Shore ; a lamp for them who need a
lamp, a bed for them who need a bed, a slave for
all beings who need a slave. I would be a magic
gem, a lucky jar, a spell of power, a sovereign
balm, a wishing-tree, a cow of plenty (14), for

46 TAKING THE THOUGHT

embodied beings. As the earth and other ele-
ments are for the various service of the countless
creatures dwelling in the whole of space, so may
I in various wise support the whole sphere of
life lodged in space, until all be at peace. As
the Blessed of old took the Thought of En-
lightenment and held fast to the rule for Sons of
Enlightenment in the order thereof, so do I frame
the Thought of Enlightenment for the weal of
the world, and so will I observe these rules in
their sequence.

When he has thus taken the Thought of
Enlightenment in a spirit of grace, the sage must
fill his thought with gladness in order to strengthen
the issue. This day my birth is fruitful, my
human life a blessing ; this day have I been born
in the race of the Enlightened, now am I their
son. And henceforth mine is the task of them
who work worthily of their race, lest any blemish
fall upon this stainless stock. This Thought of
Enlightenment has arisen within me I know not
how, even as a gem might be gotten by a blind
man from a dunghill ; it is an elixir made to
destroy death in the world, an unfailing treasure
to relieve the world's poverty, a supreme balm
to allay the world's sickness, a tree under which
may rest all creatures wearied with wandering
over life's paths, a bridge open to all wayfarers
for passing over hard ways, a moon of thought
arising to cool the fever of the world's sin, a great

OF ENLIGHTENMENT 47

sun driving away the gloom of the world's ignor-
ance, a fresh butter created by the churning ot
the milk of the Good Law. For the caravan of
beings who wander through life's paths hungering
to taste of happiness this banquet of bliss is
prepared, that will satisfy all creatures coming
to it. I summon to-day the world to the estate
of Enlightenment, and meanwhile to happiness ;
may gods, daemons, and other beings rejoice in
the presence of all the Saviours !

CHAPTER IV

HEEDFULNESS IN THE THOUGHT OF
ENLIGHTENMENT

THE son of the Conqueror, who has thus firmly
laid hold of the Thought of Enlightenment, must
constantly strive without slackening to observe
the rule. If a work be undertaken in haste and
without right reflection, one may well consider
whether it should be done or no, even though a
vow have been made ; but how should I delay
in this work, which has been perpended by the
Enlightened Ones, by their most sage Sons, and
by me likewise according to the measure of my
power ? If I fulfil not my vow by deeds, I shall
be false to all beings, and what a fate will be
mine ! Even of a small matter it is said that
he who gives not what he has purposed in thought
to give becomes a tortured ghost ; how, then,
shall it be with him who proffers aloud and
earnestly the gift of supreme happiness ? I shall
be false to all the world, and what a fate will be
mine ! . . .

48

49

Therefore I must heedfully fulfil my vow ; if
I labour not this very day, down, down I fall.
Numberless are the Enlightened who have passed
by in search of all living beings ; and through
my own fault I have not come into their healing
hands. If this day also I shall be as I have been
again and again, misery, sickness, death, maiming,
dismemberment, and the like will fall to my lot ;
and when shall I win that most rare boon, the
coming of one of the Enlightened, faith, human
birth, and fitness to labour in righteousness, a
day of health with food and no vexations ? Life
is a brief instant, and plays us false ; the body
is like a thing held in precarious tenure. Truly
with deeds such as mine have been I shall not
again win human birth ; and if I win it not, evil
awaits me ; whence should good come ? Since
I work not righteousness when I am able, how
shall I do it when crazed by the pains of hell ?
I do no righteous work, and gather sin ; the very
name of good destiny is lost to me for millions of
seons. Therefore the Lord has said that human
birth is exceedingly hard to win ; hard as for a
turtle to pass its neck into the hole of a yoke in
the ocean. . . .

I have found this most rare sphere of weal (15),
I know not how ; and shall I with open eyes
suffer myself to be borne back to these hells ?
My thought cannot grasp it ; like one who is
driven mad by spells, I know not by whom I

4

50 HEEDFULNESS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

am crazed or who possesses me. My foes, Desire,
Hate, and their kindred, are handless and footless,
they are neither valiant nor cunning ; how can
they have enslaved me ? But they dwell in my
spirit, and there at their ease smite me. And
withal I am not wroth with them ; fie on my
unseemly long-suffering ! If all gods and man-
kind were my foes, they could not drag me to the
fire of the hell Avlchi ; but into this flame, at
the touch whereof not even ashes would remain
of Meru (16), these mighty enemies the Passions
hurl me in an instant. No other foes have life
so long as the beginningless, endless, everlasting
life of my enemies the Passions. All beings may
be turned by submission to kindness ; but these
Passions become all the more vexatious by my
submission. Then whilst these everlasting foes,
sole source of the birth of the floods of sorrow, are
dwelling in my heart, how can I fearlessly rejoice
in the life of the flesh ? Whence can I have
happiness, if these warders of the prison-house
of existence, ay, these torturers of the damned in
hell and elsewhere, lodge in the house of my
spirit, in the bower of my desire ? Then I will not
lay down my burden until these foes be smitten
before my eyes. Men of lofty spirit are stirred
to wrath against even a mean offender, and sleep
not until they have smitten him. They rage in
the forefront of battle, furious, heeding not the
anguish of wounds from arrows and javelins, to

CONFLICT WITH THE PASSIONS 51

strike fiercely at the poor creatures doomed by
nature to death, and turn not away until they
have fulfilled their purpose. How then, and for
what reason, should I, who have set myself to
strike down these natural foes, the constant
causes of all miseries, sink down in base despair,
even for hundreds of disasters ? Men bear on
their limbs, like ornaments, meaningless scars
gotten from their enemies ; why should sufferings
overcome me, who am labouring to accomplish
a lofty end ? Setting their thoughts upon their
mere livelihood, fishers, Chanqlalas, husbandmen,
and the like bear the miseries of cold, heat, and
the rest ; why should not I suffer them for the
weal of the world ?

Ah, when I vowed to deliver all beings within
the bounds of space in its ten points (17) from
the Passions, I myself had not won deliverance
from the Passions. Knowing not my now
measure, I spoke like a madman. Then I will
never turn back from smiting the Passions. I
will grapple with them, will wrathfully make war
on them all except the passion that makes for
the destruction of the Passions. Though my
bowels ooze out and my head fall off, I will nowise
abase myself before my foes the Passions. An
enemy, though driven away, may establish himself
in another spot, whence he may return with
gathered powers ; but such is not the way of the
enemy Passion. Where can this dweller in my

52 HEEDFULNESS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

spirit go when I cast him out ; where can he
stand, to labour for my destruction ? It is only
that I fool that I am make no effort ; the
miserable Passions are to be overcome by the
vision of wisdom. The Passions lie not in the
objects of sense, nor in the sense-organs, nor
between them, nor elsewhere ; where do they
lie ? And yet they disturb the whole world !
They are but a phantom. Then cast away thy
heart's terror, and labour for wisdom ; why
shouldst thou vainly torture thyself in hell ?
Thus resolved, I will strive to fulfil the rule as
it has been taught ; how should he who needs
medicine find healing, if he depart from the phy-
sician's command ?

CHAPTER V

WATCHFULNESS

HE who would keep the rules must diligently
guard his thought ; the rules cannot be kept by
him who guards not the fickle thought. Untamed
elephants in their madness do not such harm here
as the thought works in Avichi and the rest of
the hells, a young elephant ranging free. But if
the young elephant of thought be entirely bound
by the rope of remembrance (18), all peril departs,
and perfect happiness comes. Tigers, lions,
elephants, bears, snakes, all foes, all the warders
of the hells, witches and devils all of them are
bound, if only thought be bound ; all are subdued
if only thought be subdued. The Speaker of the
Truth has said that from thought alone come all
our countless terrors and griefs. Who has
diligently forged the swords of hell, or its pave-
ment of red-hot iron, and whence were born its
sirens ? All this has sprung from the sinful thought,
as the Saint's song tells ; thus in the threefold
world there is no foe to fear save the thought.
If the Perfect Charity frees the world from
53

64 WATCHFULNESS

poverty, how could the Saviours of old have
had it, since the world is still poor ? The Perfect
Charity is declared to be the thought of sur-
rendering to all beings our whole possessions
and likewise the merit thereof ; thus it is but a
thought (19). Where can fishes and other crea-
tures be brought into safety, that I may not slay
them ? When the thought to do them no hurt is
conceived, that is deemed the Perfect Conduct.
How many can I slay of the wicked, who are
measureless as space ? But when the thought of
wrath is slain, all my foes are slain. Whence can
be found leather enough to cover the whole earth ?
But with a single leather shoe the whole ground
is covered. In like manner the forces without
me I cannot control ; but I will control the
thought within me, and what need have I for
control of the rest ? Though aided by voice and
body, indolence can never win for its prize an
estate such as that of Brahma, which falls to the
lot of the vigorous unaided thought. The prayers
and mortifications of a heedless and feeble man,
however long he labour, are all in vain, says the
Omniscient. To overcome sorrow and win
happiness men wander in vain, for they have not
sanctified their thcfught, the mysterious essence
of holiness. Then I must keep my thought well
governed and well guarded ; what need is there
of any vows save the vow to guard the
thought ? . . .

REMEMBRANCE 55

The thief Heedlessness, waiting to escape the
eye of remembrance, robs men of the righteousness
they have gathered, and they come to an evil
lot. The Passions, a band of robbers, seek a
lodging, and when they have found it they rob
us and destroy our good estate of life. Then let
remembrance never withdraw from the portal
of the spirit ; and if it depart, let it be brought
back by remembering the anguish of hell. Re-
membrance grows easily in happy obedient souls
from the reverence raised by their teachers' lore
and from dwelling with their masters. " The
Enlightened and their Sons keep unfailing watch
in every place. Everything is before them, I
stand in their presence." Pondering this thought,
a man will be possessed by modesty, obedience,
and reverence, and the remembrance of the
Enlightened will thus be always with him.
When remembrance stands on guard at the portal
of the spirit, watchfulness comes, and nevermore
departs.

The thought thus must be kept ever under
watch ; I must always be as if without carnal
sense, like a thing of wood. The eyes must never
glance around without object ; their gaze should
always be downward, as if in meditation. But
sometimes, to rest his gaze, one may look around
him ; he sees [strangers] as mere phantoms, but
will turn his eyes upon them to bid them welcome.
On the road, and other such places, he will look

56 WATCHFULNESS

from time to time to the four quarters of space,
to take note of danger ; he will rest and turn
round to look about him. He will go forward
or backward with heed, and in all conditions do
what he has to do with understanding. In every
act that he undertakes he will consider the due
posture of his body, and from time to time will
look to see how it is. He will watch with great
heed the wild elephant of his thought, so that it
remain bound to the stout stake of holy medita-
tion and become not loosed. He will watch to
see where his mind is moving, so that it may not
even for an instant cast off the yoke of rapt
devotion. . . .

When the body is dragged hither and thither
by vultures lusting for meat, why is it powerless
to save itself ? Why dost thou watch over this
frame, O my spirit, as if it were thine own ? if
it is a thing apart from thee, what canst thou
lose thereby ? Silly one, what thou claimest as
thine is not as clean as a wooden doll ; why dost
thou cling to this rotten machine framed in
foulness ? Lift in thy imagination this envelope
of skin, and with the scalpel of wisdom remove
the flesh from the frame of bones. Open likewise
the bones, and look upon the marrow within
them. Then ask thyself what essential thing is
therein. And now that thou hast made diligent
search and found therein nothing essential, say
wherefore thou still clingest to the body. Thou

UNIMPORTANCE OF THE BODY 57

canst not eat its impurities and entrails, nor
drink its blood ; what wilt thou do with the body ?
This poor flesh, which thou guardest in order to
feed vultures, jackals, and the like, is fitted only
to be a tool for men's works. Though thou
guardest it thus, pitiless Death will tear away
the body and give it to the vultures ; and then
what wilt thou do ? To a servant who will not
remain, gifts of garments and the like are not
given ; when it has eaten, the body will depart,
then why waste thy riches upon it ? Pay to it
its wage, then set thy thought upon thine own
business ; for we give not to the hireling all that
he may earn. Conceive of the body as a ship
that travels to and fro, and make it go at thy
bidding for creatures to fulfil their end.

He who is thus master of himself will ever
bear a smiling face ; he will put away frowns and
be first to greet others, a friend of the world. He
will not noisily and hastily throw down benches
or the like, nor beat upon a door, but always
will delight in silence. The crane, the cat, and
the thief walk silently and calmly, and accomplish
the end that they desire ; thus the holy man will
always act. He will accept with bowed head the
words of those who are skilful in exhorting others
and do kindness unsought ; he will ever be the
disciple of all men. He will give applause to all
kindly words ; when he sees one who does righteous
works, he will gladden him with praises. . . .

58 WATCHFULNESS

The Perfections, Charity, and the rest, are of
an ascending order of excellence ; he will not
forsake a more excellent for another, save in
respect of the dyke of virtue (20). Thus minded,
he will be always active for the welfare of others ;
even a forbidden deed is permitted to him in his
kindliness, if he foresees a good result. He will
give of his alms to the fallen, the masterless, and
the religious, and eat himself but a moderate
portion ; he will surrender everything but his
three robes (21). He will not for slight purpose
afflict his body, which is in the service of the
Good Law ; for thus it will speedily fulfil the
desires of living beings. And therefore he will not
cast away his life for one whose spirit of mercy
is impure (22), but only for one whose spirit is
like his own ; and thus naught is lost. ...

CHAPTER VI

THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

ALL the righteousness, the charity, the worship
of the Blessed, that have been wrought in thou-
sands of aeons, are destroyed by ill-will. There
is no guilt equal to hatred, no mortification
equal to long-suffering ; and therefore one should
diligently practise patience in divers ways.
While the arrow of hate is in the heart, none can
have a peaceful mind in equipoise, or feel the
joy of kindliness, none can win sleep or calm.
They whom a master cursed with an evil spirit
honours with wealth and favours, and who dwell
under his protection, seek nevertheless to destroy
him. Even his friends are in terror of him. His
gifts win for him no service. In short, there is
no way for a passionate man to find happiness.
He who stoutly fights against wrath, the enemy
that brings these and other sorrows, wins joy in
this world and beyond. Nourished by discontent,
hatred grows swollen and destroys me ; and
discontent springs from doing unpleasing works
or^from^the baffling of desire. Then I will cut
59

60 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

off the nourishment of my enemy, for this foe-
man's sole purpose is to slay me. My cheer-
fulness shall not be disturbed, even by the most
untoward events ; discontent works no good,
and only destroys merit. What profits dis-
content if there is a remedy ; and what profits
it if there is none ? We shrink from sorrow,
defeat, rude speech, and dishonour for ourselves
and our friends, and from the opposite of these
for our enemy. Happiness is hard to win, pain
comes readily ; there is no escape from life save
by pain ; then be firm, my spirit ! The
Karnatas, the " little children of Durga," suffer
the agonies of burning and maiming in a vain
hope of salvation ; why then shall I be faint-
hearted ? There is nothing which practice cannot
make easy ; so by practice in slight sufferings
we learn to bear great pains. Flies, stinging
creatures, gnats, hunger, thirst, and other like
pains, fierce itch and other like miseries lookest
thou upon these as profitless ? Before cold,
heat, rain, wind, travel, sickness, bondage, and
blows be not tender and delicate, else thy
anguish will increase. Some there are who at
the sight of their own blood become exceedingly
valorous, and some at sight of others' blood fall
into faintness. This comes about through firm-
ness and feebleness of spirit ; then he who is
unconquerable by pain will overcome suffering.
Even in pain the wise man will not let the calm

ANGER UNPREMEDITATED 61

of his spirit be disturbed ; for he is at war with
the Passions, and in war suffering abounds. They
who overcome their foes by presenting their
bosoms to the enemy's blows are " victors,"
" heroes " ; the rest are " slayers of the slain."

Another virtue of suffering is that from loathing
of the flesh pride is brought low, and there arise
pity for the creatures wandering through births,
fear of sin, and love for the Conqueror.

I have no anger against the gall and the rest
of my humours (23), although they cause great
suffering ; then can one be wroth against thinking
beings, who likewise are deranged by outer
forces ? As a bodily pain arises unwilled [by
the humours], so too wrath perforce arises un-
willed [in the offender]. A man does not become
angry of his free will and with purpose of anger ;
nor does wrath resolve of itself to break forth
before it breaks forth. All offences, all the
various sins, spring of necessity from outer forces ;
none are self-guided. The total of outer forces
has no consciousness that it engenders an effect,
and the effect has no consciousness that it is
engendered. The " Primal Matter " and " Soul "
of which forsooth men talk are imaginations (24).
They do not come into being with consciousness
of doing so. Before coming into being they do
not exist ; and who can then desire to come
into being ? If the " soul " is active upon its
objects, it will not cease thence ; and if it is

62 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

constant, impassive, and like the ether, it is
manifestly inactive ; for though it be joined to
outer forces, how can a changeless thing act ?
What part of the action is done by a thing which
at the time of action is the same as before it ?
If " its own action " is the bond [between soul and
object], what is the ground of this ? Thus every-
. thing depends on a cause, and this cause likewise
? is not independent ; in no wise, then, can wrath
1 be felt against beings mechanical as phantoms.

" Then there can be no restraint ; what is to
be arrested, and who shall arrest it ? " Not
so ; for since all is really the work of outer forces,
hence we deem that sorrow may have an end (25).
So when we see a foe, or even a friend, doing un-
righteously, let us remember that such are the outer
forces moving him, and remain in peace. If all
mortals could win their ends at their own pleasure,
none would suffer vexation ; for none desire it.

In heedlessness, wrath, or lust for women and
other things beyond their reach, men bring them-
selves into distress from thorns, lack of food,
and the like. Some destroy themselves by
hanging, springing down from a height, taking
poison or unwholesome measure of food, or doing
unrighteousness. Since under the sway of the
passions they harm thus their own persons, which
they love, how can they spare the bodies of others?
Maddened by passions, striving for their own
destruction, there can be only pity for them ;

UNJUSTIFIABLE ANGER 63

how should we be angered ? If it is the nature
of fools to hurt their fellows, it is as wrong for
me to feel anger against them as it is to be wroth
with the fire which naturally burns me ; and if
again it is a passing frailty, and creatures are
upright of nature, then it is as wrong to be
angered against them as against the air when
smoke fills it.

Say I am angered not against the instrument
the stick or whatso it may be but against him
who moves it. But he is moved by hatred ; it
is better then for me to hate hatred. I myself
in former times have wrought the same suffering
for other creatures ; then I deserve this for
having done hurt to living beings. The cause of
my suffering is twofold my enemy's sword and
my body. He has taken the sword, I the body ;
with which shall I be angry ? What I have got
is an ulcer in the shape of a body, unable to bear
the touch ; and thus tortured in the blindness
of desire, with what shall I be wroth ? I seek
not suffering, yet in my folly seek the cause of
suffering ; since my pain comes from my own
offence, why shall I be wroth with another ? The
forest whose leaves are swords, the birds of hell,
spring from my own works ; with whom then
shall I be wroth ? They who do me hurt are
moved thereto by my works, and thence they
fall into hell ; surely it is I that undo them !
Thanks to them, my guilt through much patience

64 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

fades away ; thanks to me, they go to the long
agonies of hell. It is I who do them hurt, they
who do me kindness ; base-spirited fellow, where-
fore this absurd anger ? If I fall not into hell,
it will be by the merit of my spirit ; what matter
is it to them that I save myself ? (26) If I should
return them evil for evil, they would not be
saved thereby ; my progress would be wrecked ;
and these poor creatures would be lost.

In no place and by naught can the mind be
destroyed, for it is unembodied ; but from
imaginations clinging to the body it suffers with
the body's hurt. Discomfiture, rude speech,
dishonour, all these things harm not the body ;
then why art thou wroth, my spirit ? Can
the ill-will of others towards me touch me in
this life or in births to come, that I should mislike
it ? Haply I may mislike it because it hinders
me from gaining alms ; but then the alms that I
get will vanish here, my guilt will stay with me
for ever. Better for me to die this same day than
to live long in sin, for however long I stay, the
same death-agony awaits me. One man in
dreams enjoys a hundred years of bliss, and
awakes ; another is happy for an hour, and
awakes ; surely the pleasure of both, when they
wake, is alike ended. And so it is at the time of
death with the long-lived and the short-lived.
Though I may get many gifts, and long enjoy my
pleasures, I shall depart empty-handed and naked,

RESTRAINT OF WRATH 65

as if stripped by robbers. " By my gains I may
live to wipe out my sin and do righteousness "
ay, but he who is angry for the sake of gain
wipes out his righteousness and does sin. If
that for which I live is lost, what profits life
itself which is spent wholly in ungodliness ?

" I hate him who speaks to my blame, for he

brings creatures to destruction " then why art

thou not angry against him who rails at others ?

Thou bearest with the unkindly when their un-

kindness touches others, and bearest not with the

caviller who touches on the growth of thy vices !

It is unmeet for me to hate them that destroy

or revile images, sanctuaries, or the Good Law ;

for the Enlightened and their company thereby

take no hurt. If men wrong thy dear ones,

masters, brothers, and the rest, know as before

that outer forces are working, and restrain thy

wrath. Whether it be wrought by a thing with

or without thought, suffering is assured to living

beings ; it is found in whatever has thought ;

then bear with it. Some in their blindness do

wrong, others in their blindness are wroth with

them ; whom of these may we call blameless,

or whom guilty ? Why hast thou of old done

so that thou art thus afflicted now by others ?

All are under the sway of their own works ; who

am I to undo this ? Knowing this, I will strive

to do righteousness, so that all may be full of

love for one another.

66 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

When a house is burning, and the fire may
fall upon the next house and seize upon the straw
and like stuff within it, we carry this stuff away
from it ; and in like manner must we straightway
cast out the things by touch whereof the spirit
is inflamed with the fire of wrath, for fear lest
the substance of our merit be consumed.

If a man doomed to death be released with
one hand cut off, is it not well for him ? and if
one through human tribulations escapes hell, is
it not also well for him ? If one cannot bear the
small suffering of the moment, then why does he
not put away the wrath that will bring upon him
the agonies of hell ? By reason of wrath I have
been thus afflicted in hell thousands of times, and
done no service to myself or to others. My
present tribulation is not so heavy, and will be
very gainful ; let me be glad of a suffering that
redeems the world from its suffering.

If some find delight in praising one of high
worth, why, my spirit, dost thou not rejoice
likewise in praising him ? Such joy will bring
thee no blame ; it will be a fountain of happiness ;
it is not forbidden by men of worth ; it is the
noblest way to win over thy fellows. If thou art
not pleased because he [who praises] is glad, then
thou wouldst forbid such things as payment for
service, and seen and unseen rewards alike
perish (27). Thou art willing for thy neighbour
to be glad when he praises thy worth ; but thou

JEALOUSY OF THE RIGHTEOUS 67

art loth to be thyself glad when another's worth
is praised. Thou hast framed the Thought of
Enlightenment in desire to make all creatures
happy : then why now art thou wroth with
creatures who of themselves find happiness ?
Forsooth thou wouldst have all beings become
Buddhas, and worthy of the three worlds'
worship ; then why art thou vexed to see their
brief honours ? He who nurtures them that
thou shouldst nurture gives to thee ; yet when
thou findest one that feeds thy household, thou
art wroth, not glad ! He that desires the en-
lightenment of living beings desires all good for
them ; but whence can one have the Thought of
Enlightenment who is angered at another's good
fortune ? If the gift comes not to thy neighbour,
it stays in the house of the offerer ; in no wise
does it fall to thee : what matter to thee whether
it be given or no ? Shall he check his righteous-
ness, the kindness of others, or his own worth ?
shall he not take what is given ? say, art thou
not angered in every case ? Not only wilt thou
not grieve for thine own sins, but thou darest to
be jealous of the righteous. If sorrow could
befall thine enemy at thy pleasure, what would
come of it ? Thy mere ill-will cannot bring
forth an issue without a cause ; but if it were
accomplished by thy wish, what happiness
wouldst thou have in his grief ? The issue then
would be more harmful to thee than aught else.

68 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

This is in sooth a deadly hook in the hands of the
fisher Passion ; the wardens of hell will take thee
thence in purchase and seethe thee in their
kitchens.

Praise, glory, and honours make not for
righteousness or long life, or for strength, or
health, or pleasure of the body. But such will
be the end sought by a wise man knowing his
advantage ; and he who desires mirth of spirit
may give himself to drink, gambling, and the
like. For glory men waste their substance, ay,
even their lives. But will syllables feed them ?
and when they are dead, who has pleasure of it ?
As a child wails bitterly when its house of sand is
broken down, so I deem my own spirit will be
when praise and glory vanish. Praise is but sound,
and being itself without thought, cannot praise me.

" Nay, I am glad, forsooth, because my neigh-
bour is pleased with me." But what is it to me
whether my neighbour is pleased with me or with
another ? the joy is his ; not the smallest share
of it is mine. If happiness springs from the joy
of others, then I should have it in every event ;
so why am I not glad when men rejoice to
honour another ? Then gladness arises within
me only because I am praised ; and thus, being
foreign to myself, it is an utter child's play.

These praises and honours destroy my welfare
and horror of the flesh ; they arouse envy of the
worthy and anger at their fortune. Then they

AN ENEMY AS A TREASURE 69

who rise against me to crush my glory and honour
are in truth working to save me from falling into
hell. If I seek deliverance, gains and honours
are a fetter that befit me not : how can I hate
them that release me from this bond ? By the
blessing of the Enlightened, as it were, they
become a door barring my way into sorrow ;
how can I hate them ? " But he hinders me
from righteous works " nay, it is not well to be
angry for this. There is no work of mortification
equal to long-suffering, and surely this is an
occasion for it. If by my sin here I show not
patience towards him, it is I who hinder myself
from doing righteousness when the occasion for
it has come. If one thing exists not without
another, and exists when the other is present,
the latter is the cause of the former : how can it
be called a hindrance to it ? The beggar who
comes at the due hour makes no hindrance to the
almsgiving ; and if a monk comes who can ad-
minister the vows, it is not called a hindrance to
our taking the vows (28). We find many beggars
in the world, but few who will do us hurt ; for if
I do no wrong, no man will wrong me. Then an
enemy is like a treasure found in my house, won
without labour of mine ; I must cherish him,
for he is a helper in the way to Enlightenment.
Thus this fruit of my patience is won by me
and by him together ; to him must be given the
first share, for he is the cause of my patience.

70 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

" But my enemy seeks not to prosper my
patience, and therefore he is not worthy of
honour " nay, why then do we honour the Good
Law, the unconscious cause of blessing ? " Nay,
his purpose is to do me hurt " but if an enemy
is therefore not honoured, how can I otherwise
shew patience towards him, as though he were
intent, like a physician, on my welfare ? It is by
reason of his evil design that my patience is
born ; therefore he is the cause of patience, and
as worthy of honour from me as the Good Law.
Therefore the Saint has told of the Domain of
Creatures and the Domain of Conquerors (29) ;
for by seeking the favour of creatures and Con-
querors many have risen to supreme fortune.
Since with both creatures and Conquerors is the
same gift of the qualities of the Enlightened (30),
how may we deal partially and refuse to creatures
the reverence shown to Conquerors ? The great-
ness of the purpose lies not in itself, but in its
works ; hence creatures have a like greatness,
and therein they are like [to the Enlightened].
The greatness of creatures is that he who has the
spirit of kindliness towards them wins worship ;
the greatness of the Enlightened is that merit
is won by love toward them. Thus creatures
are like to the Conquerors by giving in part the
dower of the qualities of the Enlightened, albeit
none^of them are peer to the Enlightened, who
are oceans of virtues, infinite of parts ; and if

REVERENCE TO " CONQUERORS " 71

even one atom-small virtue from these sole stores
of the essence of the virtues be found in any
creature, the whole threefold world is not enough
for his worship. In creatures is found a little
power, but that most noble, for bringing forth
the qualities of the Enlightened ; according to
that little power should creatures be honoured.

Moreover, what perfect reparation can be
made to these Kinsmen without guile, these doers
of immeasurable kindness, save the service of
creatures ? They tear their own bodies, they
go down into the hell Avichi, all for the welfare
of others ; then even to them who most sorely
wrong us we must do all manner of good. How
dare I shew pride, instead of a slave's humble-
ness, towards those masters for whose sake my
Masters are heedless of their own lives ? When
they are happy, the Saints are rejoiced, and
wroth when they are distressed ; in their gladness
is the gladness of all the Saints ; when they are
wronged, wrong is done to the Saints. As one
whose body is entirely in flame finds no comfort
in any things of desire, so when creatures are
distressed these beings of mercy have no way to
find pleasure. Forasmuch then as I have done
hurt to all these most compassionate beings by
doing hurt to living things, I confess now my
sin ; may the Saints pardon me for the wrong
that I have done them ! To win the grace of the
Blessed Ones to-day I make myself utterly the

72 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING

slave of the world. Let the crowds of living
beings set their feet upon my head, or smite me,
and the Lord of the World be glad ! Beyond
all doubt these Merciful Ones have made the
whole universe their own ; truly it is our Lords
who shew themselves in the form of creatures,
and dare we despise them ? It is this that
moves the Blessed to grace, this that wins my
true end, this that wipes away the misery of the
world ; then be this my vow !

A single henchman of the king handles a crowd
rudely ; and the throng, looking on from afar,
dares not shew sign of passion ; for he is not
alone, the king's power is his strength. And
likewise thou mayst not dishonour him who
wrongs thee because he is weak ; for the warders
of hell and the Merciful Ones are his strength.
Then let us seek the favour of creatures, as a
servant the favour of a wrathful king. Can a
king in his anger bring upon us the anguish of
hell, which we shall bear for making creatures
sorrowful ? Can a king in his pleasure bestow
aught equal to Enlightenment, which we shall
bear for making creatures happy ? But beside
the destined Enlightenment that springs from
kindness to creatures, seest thou not that herein
lie fortune, glory, comfort ? Favour, health,
joy, long life, and abounding delight of empire
fall to the lot of the patient man in the course of
his lives,

CHAPTER VII

THE PERFECT STRENGTH

Now he who is patient will seek for strength, for
in strength lies Enlightenment. Without
strength there is no righteous work, as without
the wind there is no motion. And what is
strength ? Vigour hi well-doing. What is its
contrary called ? Faintness, clinging to base
things, despair, self-contempt. From inaction,
delight in pleasure, slumber, and eagerness for
repose springs a spirit that feels no horror at the
miseries of life, and from this arises faintness.
Pursued by the Passions, those fishers, thou hast
come into the net of Birth, and knowest thou not
that this selfsame day thou hast fallen into the
jaws of Death ? Seest thou not thy comrades
smitten down one after the other ? and withal
thou fallest into slumber like a bullock in the
butcher's hands. Watched by the Death-god,
thy ways hemmed in on every side, how canst
thou find delight in food, how canst thou sleep
and love ? Wait a little while, until Death shall

73

74 THE PERFECT STRENGTH

have gathered his instruments, and he will come
swiftly upon thee ; then it will be an ill time for
thee to cast off thy faintness, and what wilt thou
do ? " This work untouched, this begun, this
standing half-done and lo ! Death has suddenly
fallen upon me ! Alas, I am undone ! " Such
will be thy thoughts, whilst thou lookest upon
thy despairing kinsmen with their eyes swollen
and red with tears in the passion of their grief,
and upon the faces of the Death-god's messengers,
whilst thou liest racked by the memory of thy
sins, hearing the noises of hell, altogether over-
whelmed and oh, what wilt thou do ?

It is well for thee to think fearfully of thyself
here as of a living fish (31), much more so for the
sinner to dread the fierce anguish of hell. Thou
art burnt if warm water touch thee, tender
creature that thou art ; and when thou doest
damnable sins, how canst thou sit thus com-
fortably ? wretched soul, that longest for
reward unearned by striving, thou that art so
tender and much afflicted, thou immortal, thou
art devoured by Death, and undone ! Thou
hast found the ship of manhood ; then sail in it
across the broad river of sorrow. Fool, this is
no time for slumber ; it will be hard to find the
ship again. How canst thou forsake the noble
delight in the Law, which brings an endless
course of comforts, and find pleasure in wanton-
ness, mirth, and other like sources of sorrow ?

ENDURANCE OF PAIN 75

The spirit that knows not despair, the troops
of the Army (32), devoted heed, self -submission,
equal esteem of self and others, and regard of
others in place of self [are the supports of strength].

Let me not despair that the Enlightenment
will come to me ; for the Blessed One, the speaker
of truth, has revealed this truth, that they who
by force of striving have gained hard-won supreme
Enlightenment have been erstwhile gnats, gad-
flies, flies, and worms. Now I am a man by
birth, able to know good and evil : why shall I
not win the Enlightenment by following the rule
of the All-knowing ? If I am afraid when I think
that I must give my hand or foot, it is because
in my heedlessness I confound things of great
and of small weight. I may be cleft, pierced,
burnt, split open many and many a time for
countless millions of aeons, and never win the
Enlightenment. But this pain that wins me
the Enlightenment is of brief term ; it is like
the pain of cutting out a buried arrow to heal its
smart. All physicians restore health by painful
courses ; then to undo much suffering let us
bear a little. But even this fitting course the
Great Physician has not enjoined upon us ; he
heals them that are grievously sick by tender
treatment. At first our Lord ordains gifts only
of herbs and the like, and then in due course
brings men at last to surrender even their own
flesh. When there comes to man the spirit that

76 THE PERFECT STRENGTH

looks upon his flesh as no more than herbs, what
hardship is it for him to surrender his flesh and
bone ? He is not hurt, for he has cast off sin,
nor sad, for knowledge is his ; for distress comes
in the mind from false imaginations, and in the
body from sin. The body is made happy by
righteous works, the spirit by knowledge ; what
can vex the compassionate one who remains in
embodied life only for the welfare of others ?
Annulling his former sins, amassing oceans of
righteousness, by the power of his Thought of
Enlightenment he travels more swiftly than the
Disciples (33). Having thus in the Thought of
Enlightenment a chariot that removes all vexa-
tion and weariness, travelling from happiness to
happiness, who that is wise will despair ?

To accomplish the welfare of his fellow-creatures
he has an Army, the troops of which are Love of
Right, Constancy, Joy, and Abandonment. The
Love of Right he will frame from the fear of
suffering and from pondering upon merits. When
he has uprooted his foes, he will strive for increase
of vigour by means of his armies, which are the
love of right, pride, joy, abandonment, devoted
heed, and self -submission. Countless are the
faults in myself and my fellows that I shall have
to destroy, and hundreds of thousands of seons
must pass ere even one of these fade away. But
I find not in myself the least morsel of vigour
to set myself to undo these faults ; I am doomed

THE LOVE OF RIGHT 77

to boundless anguish, and why does my bosom
not burst ? Many are the virtues in myself and
my fellows that must be gained, and hundreds of
thousands of aeons will scarce be enough for the
practice of even one of them. But I have never
practised the least morsel of virtue ; to no
purpose has been spent the birth so hardly and
marvellously won. The joy of the great festivals
in worship of the Lord has not been mine ; I
have done no honour to the Law, nor fulfilled
the desire of the poor ; I have not given security
to them that are in fear, nor happiness to the
afflicted ; I have been only a vexation of my
mother's womb, to work sorrow. Because of
old I departed from the love of right, I am now
in this evil plight ; who would forsake the love
of right ? This love the Saint has proclaimed
to be the root of all righteous works ; and its
root is the constant meditation upon the fruit
that grows from deeds. Manifold are the pains,
the sorrows, the terrors, and the disappointments
that arise to sinners. Whithersoever the desire
of the righteous turns, it is greeted with happy
issue, because of their merits ; and whithersoever
turns the sinner's yearning for pleasure, it is
smitten with swords of pain, because of his sins.
They that are godly of works enter the wombs
of broad, sweet-smelling, cool lotus-blossoms ;
their lustrous forms grow nurtured by the Con-
queror's sweet melody ; then they issue in comely

78 THE PERFECT STRENGTH

beauty from the lotus-flowers awakened by the
sunbeams of the Holy One, and are born as Sons
of the Blessed in the presence of the Blessed.
As to them that are ungodly of works, shrieking
in anguish, they are flayed of their whole skin by
the Death-god's henchmen, their bodies bathed
with copper molten in the fire, their flesh cut off
in gobbets by hundreds of blows from flaming
swords and pikes, and they fall again and again
upon beds of red-hot iron. Then let the love of
righteousness be with you, and be heedful thus to
foster it.

In setting his hand to a work one should foster
pride, according to the rule of the Vajra-dhvaja
Sutra. When he has first considered the sum
of circumstances, he will either begin it, or not
begin it ; for it is better not to begin at all than
to leave undone what has been begun. For this
practice will last even into other births, and from
such sin will arise abounding sorrow ; and not
only is the present work not accomplished, but
likewise others that might be done in the same
time come not to pass.

In respect of three things may pride be borne
man's works, his temptations, and his power.
The pride of works lies in the thought " for me
alone is the task." This world, enslaved by
passion, is powerless to accomplish its own weal ;
then I must do it for them, for I am not impotent
like them. Shall another do a lowly task while

PRIDE OF CONQUEST 79

I am standing by ? If I in my pride will not do
it, better it is that my pride perish. The very
crow becomes a Garuda (34) when he lights
upon a dead lizard ; if my spirit is feeble, the
least occasion of sin will overcome me. To him
who is palsied by a faint heart occasions of sin
come abundantly ; but he who has a noble pride
ever alert is unconquerable even by great tempta-
tions. Then with firm spirit I will undo the
occasions of undoing ; if I should be conquered
by them, my ambition to conquer the threefold
world would be a jest. I will conquer all ; none
shall conquer me. This is the pride that I will
bear, for I am the son of the Conqueror-Lions.
Creatures who are overcome by arrogance bear
the title of misery, not of pride ; he that is proud
falls not into the power of the foe, but they are
slaves to the foe Arrogance. Through arrogance
they are brought into evil estate, and even in
human birth lose their joys, eating the bread of
others, slaves, fools, uncomely, wasted away ;
despised on all sides are the wretches stiff in
arrogance ; if they are ranked with the proud,
say, who are the miserable ? Proud, victorious,
heroic are they who set their pride on conquest
of the foe Arrogance, who overthrow him in all
his might, and freely show to the world the fruit
of their conquest.

Surrounded by the troop of the Passions, a
man should become a thousand times prouder,

80 THE PERFECT STRENGTH

and be as unconquerable to their hordes as a lion
to flocks of deer. Even in great stress the eye is
unconscious of the sense of taste ; and so, into
whatever straits he may come, he will not fall
into the power of the Passions. He will utterly
give himself over to whatever task arrives, greedy
for the work, insatiate of spirit, like one who
lusts for the delight issuing from his sport. Every
work is done for the sake of happiness, whether
the happiness come or no ; but how can he whose
happiness is work itself be happy in doing no
work ? Desires, like honey on the edge of a
razor's blade, bring no contentment in life ; but
what satiety can there be from the divine draughts
of righteous deeds, that are blessed and sweet in
their issue ? Then when one work is brought
to an end, he will plunge into another, as the
elephant, vexed by the heat of midday, plunges
straightway into the lake that he finds.

But when his strength fails, he will withdraw
from his work ; and if it be happily ended, he
will leave it, in eagerness for more and more
tasks. He will guard himself against the blows
of the Passions, and deal stout blows against the
Passions, as though fighting with the sword
against a skilful foe. As one in fear swiftly
takes up again a fallen sword, so he will take up
the fallen sword of remembrance, bethinking
himself of hell.

As poison that has reached the blood spreads

GREEDINESS FOR WORK 81

through the body, so the sin that finds a weak
spot spreads through the spirit. A man carrying
a bowl full of oil, surrounded by soldiers with
drawn swords, in fear of death if he should trip,
will walk needfully (35) ; and so it is with him
that is under the vow. Then when slumber and
faintness fall upon him, he will strive against
them as speedily as one springs up when a serpent
is creeping into his lap. Whenever he is caught
unawares, he will be sorely grieved, and consider
what he should do that it may not befall him
again. For the sake of this he will desire godly
company or tasks to come in his way, that his
remembrance may be exercised in these condi-
tions. Remembering the Sermon on Heedful-
ness (36), he will hold himself in readiness, so
that even before a task comes to him he is pre-
pared to turn to every course. As the seed of
the cotton-tree is swayed at the coming and
going of the wind, so will he be obedient to his
resolution ; and thus divine power is gained.

CHAPTER VIII

THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION

WHEN thus vigour has been nurtured, it is well
to fix the thought in concentred effort ; the man
of wandering mind lies between the fangs of the
Passions. It cannot wander if body and thought
be in solitude ; so it is well to forsake the world
and put away vain imaginations (37). Because
of love, or hunger for gain, and the like, men will
not forsake the world ; then in order to cast it
aside the wise will lay to heart these thoughts.
Passion is overcome only by him who has won
through stillness of spirit the perfect vision.
Knowing this, I must first seek for stillness ; it
comes through the contentment that is regardless
of the world. What creature of a day should
cling to other frail beings, when he can never
again through thousands of births behold his
beloved ? Yet when he sees him not, he is ill at
ease ; he rests not in concentred thought ; and
even when he beholds him he is not satisfied, but
is distressed by the same longing as before. He

82

ATTITUDE TO THE FOOLISH 83

sees not things in their reality ; he loses his
horror of the world ; he is consumed by his grief
in yearning for union with the beloved. In
thoughts thereupon his brief life vainly passes
away hour by hour ; and the eternal Law is
broken for the sake of a short-lived friend !

If he share in the life of the foolish, a man
assuredly goes to hell ; if he share it not, he wins
hatred ; what profits it to have commerce with
the foolish ? They are friends for a moment,
foes for a moment, wrathful when they should be
pleased how hard to content are the worldly !
They are angered if wholesomely counselled, and
hold me back from good ; if I heed them not
they are wroth, and pass into hell. When can
good come of a fool ? He is jealous of a better
man, contentious with a peer, haughty towards
one that is lower, puffed up by praise, angered
by blame. Exaltation of self, blame of others,
discourse in praise of worldly pleasure some
such guilt will assuredly come from fool to fool.
Thus it is from the union of one with another ;
evil thereby meets evil. I will live alone, in peace
and with untroubled mind.

It is well to flee from the foolish. If he come
in thy way, seek to win him over by kindness,
not so as to hold commerce with him, but in a
manner of godly indifference. I will take from
him only enough for the holy life (38), as the bee
takes honey from the flower ; thus in every

84 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION

place I will hold myself from commerce with
him, like the new moon (39).

The mortal who thinks of his gains or his
honours or the favour of many men will be
afraid of death when it falls upon him. What-
soever it be in which the pleasure-crazed spirit
takes its delight, that thing becomes a pain a
thousand times greater. Therefore the wise man
will seek not for pleasure, for from desire arises
terror ; and if it come of itself, let him stand
firm and wait. Many there are who have found
gain, many who have won fame ; but none know
whither they have gone, with their gains and
their fame. Some loathe me ; then why shall I
rejoice in being praised ? Some praise me ; then
why shall I be cast down by blame ?

Living beings are of diverse character ; not
even the Conquerors can content them, much less
simple souls such as I. Then why think of the
world ? They blame a fellow-creature who gains
naught, they scorn him who gains something ;
being thus by nature unpleasant companions,
what happiness can come from them ? The
Blessed Ones have said that the fool is no man's
friend ; for the fool has no love save where his
interest lies. The love that rests on interest is
but selfish, even as grief at loss of wealth springs
from loss of pleasure.

Trees are not disdainful, and ask for no toilsome
wooing ; fain would I consort with those sweet

A LIFE OF SOLITUDE 85

companions ! Fain would I dwell in some
deserted sanctuary, beneath a tree or in caves,
that I might walk without heed, looking never
behind ! Fain would I abide in nature's own
spacious and lordless lands, a homeless wanderer
free of will, my sole wealth a clay bowl, my cloak
profitless to robbers, fearless and careless of my
body ! Fain would I go to my home the
graveyard, and compare with other skeletons my
own frail body ! for this my body will become
so foul that the very jackals will not approach
it because of its stench. The bony members born
with this corporeal frame will fall asunder from
it, much more so my friends. Alone man is born,
alone he dies ; no other has a share in his sorrows.
What avail friends, but to bar his way ? As a
wayfarer takes a brief lodging, so he that is
travelling through the way of existence finds in
each birth but a passing rest.

It is well for a man to depart to the forest ere
the four bearers (40) carry him away amidst the
laments of his folk. Free from commerce and
hindrance, possessing naught but his body, he
has no grief at the hour of death, for already he
has died to the world ; no neighbours are there
to vex him or disturb his remembrance of the
Enlightened and like thoughts (41). Then I will
ever woo sweet Solitude, untroubled dayspring of
bliss, stilling all unrest. Released from all other
thoughts, with mind utterly set upon my own

86 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION

spirit, I will strive to concentre and control my
spirit.

The desires beget harm in this world and
beyond : here, by bondage, slaughter, and loss of
limb ; beyond, in hell. That for the sake of
which thou hast bowed many a time before
bawds, heeding not sin nor infamy, and cast
thyself into peril and wasted thy substance, that
which by its embrace has brought thee supreme
delight it is naught but bones, now free and
unpossessed ; wilt thou not take thy fill of
embraces now, and delight thyself ? This was
the face that erstwhile turned downwards in
modesty and was unwilling to look up, hidden
behind a veil whether eyes gazed upon it or
gazed not ; and this face now the vultures unveil
to thee, as though they could not bear thy
impatience. Look on it why dost thou flee now
from it ? ...

Mark how fortune brings endless misfortune by
the miseries of winning it, guarding it, and losing
it ; men's thoughts cling altogether to their
riches, so that they have not a moment to free
themselves from the sorrows of life. Thus they
who are possessed by desire suffer much and enjoy
little, as the ox that drags a cart gets but a morsel
of grass. For the sake of this morsel of enjoy-
ment, which falls easily to the beast's lot, man,
blinded by his destiny, wastes this brief fortune,
that is so hard to win (42). For all time lasts

THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTENMENT 87

the struggle for the welfare of the mean body
that is doomed to depart and fall into hell, and
even a millionth part of this labour would win
the rank of the Enlightened. Greater is the pain
of them that are possessed by desire than the
pain of the way of holiness, and no Enlightenment
comes to them. Neither sword, nor poison, nor
fire, nor fall into abysses, nor foemen may be
compared to the desires, if we bear in mind the
agonies of hell and the like. Then shrink from
the desires, and learn delight in solitude, in the
peaceful woodlands void of strife and toil. Happy
are they who are fanned by the sweet silent
breezes of the forest, as they walk upon the
pleasant rock-floors broad as in a palace and
cooled by the moonbeams' sandal ointment, and
take thought for the weal of their fellow-creatures !
Dwelling anywhere for what time they will, in
deserted sanctuary or cave or beneath the trees,
saved from the weariness of winning and guarding
possessions, they wander fancy-free at pleasure.
Indra (43) himself can hardly win the bliss of
contentment that is enjoyed by him who wanders
homeless at his own free will and unattached to
aught.

By pondering in such wise upon the excellences
of solitude a man stills vain imaginations and
strengthens his Thought of Enlightenment. First
he will diligently foster the thought that his
fellow-creatures are the same as himself. " All

88 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION

have the same sorrows, the same joys as I, and I
must guard them like myself. The body, mani-
fold of parts in its division of members, must be
preserved as a whole ; and so likewise this
manifold universe has its sorrow and its joy in
common. Although my pain may bring no hurt
to other bodies, nevertheless it is a pain to me,
which I cannot bear because of the love of self ;
and though I cannot in myself feel the pain of
another, it is a pain to him which he cannot bear
because of the love of self. I must destroy the
pain of another as though it were my own,
because it is a pain ; I must show kindness to
others, for they are creatures as I am myself. . . .
Then, as I would guard myself from evil repute,
so I will frame a spirit of helpfulness and tender-
ness towards others."

By constant use the idea of an " I " attaches
itself to foreign drops of seed and blood, although
the thing exists not. Then why should I not
conceive my fellow's body as my own self ? That
my body is foreign to me is not hard to see. I
will think of myself as a sinner, of others as
oceans of virtue ; I will cease to live as self, and
will take as my self my fellow-creatures. We love
our hands and other limbs, as members of the
body ; then why not love other living beings,
as members of the universe ? By constant use
man comes to imagine that his body, which has
no self -being, is a " self " ; why then should he

REGARD FOR OTHERS 89

not conceive his " self " to lie in his fellows also ?
Thus in doing service to others pride, admira-
tion, and desire of reward find no place, for
thereby we satisfy the wants of our own self.
Then, as thou wouldst guard thyself against
suffering and sorrow, so exercise the spirit of
helpfulness and tenderness towards the world. . . .
Make thyself a spy for the service of others,
and whatsoever thou seest in thy body's work
that is good for thy fellows, perform it so that it
may be conveyed to them. Be thou jealous of
thine own self when thou seest that it is at ease
and thy fellow in distress, that it is in high estate
and he is brought low, that it is at rest and he is
at labour. Make thine own self lose its pleasures
and bear the sorrow of thy fellows ; mark its
deceit at each time and in each act. Cast upon
its head the guilt even of others' works ; make
confession to the Great Saint of even its slightest
sin. Darken its glory by telling of the greater
glory of others. Make it a carrier in thy fellow-
creatures' service, like a mean slave. It is made
of sin, and because it may have some chance
morsel of goodness from without, it is not there-
fore worthy of praise. Let no man know its
goodness. In short, let all the wrong that thou
hast done for the sake of thine own self to others
fall upon thine own self for the sake of thy fellow-
creatures. Grant it no power to talk overmuch ;
keep it in the condition of a young bride, abashed,

90 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION

timid, and guarded. Bend it to thy will by
commanding it how it shall act and stand and
forbear, and chastise it for disobedience. " O
my spirit, thou wilt not do as I bid thee ; then I
will chastise thee, for in thee all sins find a home.
Whither wilt thou go ? I shall see thee, and
overthrow all thy pride ; the days are gone when
I let myself be undone by thee. Put away now
the hope that thou canst still seek an advantage
of thine own ; I have sold thee into the hands of
others, heeding not however much thou mayst
suffer. For if through heedlessness I deliver
thee not over to my fellow-creatures, thou wilt
doubtless deliver me to the warders of hell.
Many times hast thou thus betrayed me, and
long have I been racked ; remembering these
deeds of enmity, I will destroy thee, thou slave
of self-seeking." If thou lovest thyself, thou
must have no love of self ; if thou wouldst save
thyself, thou dost not well to be saving of self.
The more heedfully the body is guarded, the
sorer are its sufferings and the deeper its fall.

But despite its fall, the whole earth cannot
satisfy the lust of the flesh ; who can do its
will ? To him who longs for the impossible
come guilt and bafflement of desire ; but he
who is utterly without desire has a happiness
that ages not. Then give no room for the lust
of the flesh to swell ; blessed indeed is the thing
that is not imagined for the sake of its pleasant-

WHY CLING TO THE BODY? 91

ness. The body is a motionless thing stirred
by something without, and ending in ashes, a
loathsome frame of foulness ; why do I cling to
it ? What have I to do with this machine, alive
or dead ? What distinguishes it from such
things as clods of earth ? Alas, O thought of
self, thou wilt not die ! Through complicity
with the flesh I win sorrow, all to no purpose ; it
is no better than a thing of wood, and what
should avail its hatred or its kindness ? It feels
no love when I guard it, no hate when vultures
devour it ; then why do I love it ? I am angered
when it is treated with scorn, delighted when it
is honoured ; but if it has no knowledge, to what
end is my toil ? My friends, forsooth, are they
who wish well to this body ; but all men wish
well to their own flesh, and why are not they
also my friends ? So I have surrendered my
body indifferently for the weal of the world ; it
is but as an instrument of work that I still bear
it, with all its guilt. Enough then of worldly
ways ! I follow in the path of the Wise, re-
membering the Discourse upon Heedfulness (44)
and putting away sloth. To overcome the power
of darkness I concentre my thought, drawing
the spirit away from vain paths and fixing it
straightly upon its stay (45).

CHAPTER IX

THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE

ALL this equipment (46) the Sage has ordained
for the sake of wisdom ; so he that seeks to still
sorrow must get him wisdom. We deem that
there are two verities, the Veiled Truth and the
Transcendent Reality. The Reality is beyond
the range of the understanding ; the understand-
ing is called Veiled Truth (47). . . . Thus there
is never either cessation or existence ; the universe
neither comes to be nor halts in being. Life's
courses, if thou considerest them, are like dreams
and as the plantain's branches (48) ; in reality there
is no distinction between those that are at rest
and those that are not at rest. Since then the
forms of being are empty, what can be gained,
and what lost ? who can be honoured or despised,
and by whom ? Whence should come joy or
sorrow ? What is sweet, what bitter ? What is
desire, and where shall this desire in verity be
sought ? If thou considerest the world of living
things, who shall die therein ? who shall be

92

THE VEILED TRUTH 93

born, who is born ? who is a kinsman and
who a friend, and to whom ? Would that my
fellow-creatures should understand that all is
as the void ! They are angered and delighted
by their matters of strife and rejoicing ; with
grief and labour, with despair, with rending and
stabbing one another, they wearily pass their
days in sin as they seek their own pleasure ; they
die and fall into hells of long and bitter anguish ;
they return again and again to happy births after
births and grow wonted to joy (49). . . . In life
are oceans of sorrow, fierce and boundless beyond
compare, a scant measure of power, a brief term
of years ; our years are spent in vain strivings
for existence and health, in hunger, faintness,
and labour, in sleep, in vexation, in fruitless
commerce with fools, and discernment is hard to
win ; how shall we come to restrain the spirit
from its wont of wandering ? There, too, the
Spirit of Desire (50) is labouring to cast us into
deep hells ; there evil paths abound, and un-
belief can scarce be overcome ; it is hard to win j ,
a brief return, exceeding hard for the Enlightened
to arise to us ; the torrent of passion can scarce
be stayed. Alas, how sorrow follows on sorrow !
Alas, how lamentable is the estate of them that
are borne down in the floods of affliction, and in
their sore distress see not how sad their plight
is, like one who should again and again come
forth from the waters of his bath and cast himself

94 THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE

into fire, and so in their sore trouble deem them-
selves to be in happy estate ! As thus they live
in sport that knows not of age and dissolution,
dire afflictions will come upon them, with Death
in their forefront. Then when will the day come
when I may bring peace to them that are tortured
in the fire of sorrow by my ministrations of
sweetness born from the rain-clouds of my
righteousness, and when I may reverently declare
to the souls who imagine a real world that all
is void, and righteousness is gathered by looking
beyond the Veiled Truth (51) ?

NOTES

(1) "As is fitting, the book begins with homage to the
' threefold jewel,' or ' three pearls,' i.e. in early Buddhism,
the Buddha (^akya-muni), the Law preached by him (Dhar-
ma), and the brotherhood of his monks (Sangha). Here,
agreeably to the doctrines of the Great Vehicle, we have
(i) the Buddhas, designated by the title Sugata, ' the well
gone,' or ' the well arrived,' i.e. ' they who have left the
world of becoming in order to enter Nirvana,' or ' who
know the truth,' ' who have departed to return no more,'
' who have cast off all frailty of body, speech, and mind.'
These definitions aim at establishing from every point of
view a fundamental difference between the Buddhas and
all other beings, (ii) The sons of the Buddhas, namely
(a) the Bodhi-sattvas ('creatures of enlightenment') who
have reached a ' stage,' a ' ground,' even though it be
the first, in their career as future Buddhas (in opposition to
the future Buddhas, Bodhi-sattvas, who have not yet entered
upon the career, or are only at the outset of it) ; (b) all ' the
worshipful ones,' i.e. the ' teachers of discipline or doc-
trine,' etc. We must understand ' all spiritual friends.'
(iii) The ' Body of the Law,' i.e. either the sum-total of
the Scriptures or ' the Body of the Law of the Buddhas,'
in opposition to their bodies as visible upon this earth, and
to their bodies as beatified in paradise. This Body is the
uncreated wisdom which constitutes the essence of all the
Buddhas ; and the Law preached by the Buddhas is only

95

96 NOTES

the intellectual or verbal expression of this wisdom " (Prof.
de la Vallee Poussin).

(2) The " Thought of Enlightenment " (Bodhi-cUtta) is to
the Maha-yina what ' grace ' is to Christian theology.
Buddhism, in common with the other schools of Indian
thought, holds that all living beings are fettered in the
beginningless and endless cycle of embodied births, metemp-
sychosis or samsara, in which every instant of present
experience is a resultant of former actions. Only the
Buddhas, the loving teachers of salvation to mankind, have
risen after aeons of effort in countless births into the trans-
cendental peace of Nirvana. Hence the great religious
duty of the believer is aspiration to become a Buddha for
the weal of fellow-creatures. This yearning arises in his
heart, by the special grace of the Buddhas, in the form of
the Bodhi-chitta, which is finely expressed by our author
in his third chapter. By this vow the believer constitutes
himself a Bodhi-sattva, " or creature of enlightenment," of
the first stage ; he has devoted himself to the acquisition of
merit by charity and knowledge which shall raise him through
higher and higher planes of existence, until he reaches the
condition of the celestial Bodhi-sattvas, such as Manju-
ghosha and Avalokitesvara, who have attained the highest
beatification that the finite universe can give, and are only
delaying their departure into the infinite stillness of Nir-
vana in order to continue their works as loving guides and
helpers of mankind towards happiness and spiritual sanctifi-
cation.

(3) The minions of life are the passions and other frailties
which keep the soul enchained in the cycle (samsara) of
bodily births.

(4) The Musa sapientum.

(5) See the chapter on the Perfect Long-suffering, below.

(6) The Buddhas, here styled Tathagata, on which see
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1893, p. 103 f.
Compare the term Sugata (above, note 1).

(7) This term here denotes the divine Bodhi-sattvas

NOTES 97

(Avalokitesvara, Manju-ghosha, etc.), who have reached the
higher stages of beatification.

(8) A Buddha-lcshetra, or " domain of Buddha," ia a
system of a thousand millions of worlds, each under the
guardianship of a Buddha.

(9) This refers to the Buddha of the present era, Gautama
the S*akya, and the places hallowed by his pious deeds iu
varous births previous to his Nirvana.

(10) The Buddha, the Law, and the Congregation.

(11) See above, note 2.

(12) These are the celestial Bodhi-sattvas (see notes 1, 2).

(13) " Stillness " is perhaps the most suitable term to
express the idea of Nirvana ; compare Deussen, Allgemeine
Geschichte der Philosophic, bd. i., abteil. 3, pp. Ill f., 152 f.,
etc. Nirvana does not signify extinction or annihilation,
as is commonly imagined in Europe, but the very reverse,
perfect spiritual self-realisation in transcendental being.
The metaphor first occurs in the Upanishads, and frequently
reappears later in non-Buddhist theology ; it denotes rrao-
ksha, the state in which the individual soul, identifying
itself with universal Being, is entirely at rest in itself and
in Brahma, in the stillness of infinite thought. The fire of
delusion and earthly desire has become extinguished in it
by the annihilation of its fuel, the false imagination of finite
being. Nirvana is thus similar to the yoga, or ecstasy of the
Yogic adept, which is technically defined as diitta-vritti-
nirodha, cessation of the activity of the finite imagination,
and it is frequently used in the same connection. Nirvana
properly may denote either the blowing-out of a flame, or
the burning of a flame undisturbed by wind (compare Bha-
gavad-glta, vi. 19). The latter interpretation will suit the
oldest passages where the word occurs ; but the former is
also applicable, and is necessary hi some of the later passages.
Now the Buddhists denied the existence of a soul, or per-
manent Self. Logically, therefore, they could not assert
the existence of a Nirvana, or transcendental existence of
the soul or Self ; and theoretically, indeed, the Madhyamika

7

98 NOTES

school of the Maha-yana denied Nirvana as well as finite
being, substituting for the whole the universal " Void,"

(i&unya, which however is only another name for infinite
Being, the unqualified Transcendental. Buddhist orthodoxy
refused to speculate on this antinomy. But in the same way
as Buddhism, whr'le denying the Brahmanic conception of
> the soul, substitutes for it the santdna, or succession of mo-
ments of consciousness, which practically differs very little
from it, so its conception of Nirvana practically amounted
to much the same as the Brahmanic ideal. See above, p. 19.

(14) The " lucky jar " is a magic vessel in which is found
whatever the owner desires ; the " wishing- tree " and the
" cow of plenty " are part of the furniture of the Hindu
paradise, and have similar properties.

(15) Namely, human birth under the dispensation of a
Buddha.

(16) Meru is an imaginary mountain in the Hindu cos-
mology, which forms the centre of the universe, and around
which the sun and moon turn.

(17) The ten points of space are the north, south, east,
west, north-east, south-east, north-west, south-west, zenith,
and nadir.

(18) The remembrance is of the Law of the Buddha and
of the teachings of his Church.

(19) The Perfect Charity (Dana-pdramita) is not an
actual deliverance of the world from poverty (misery due
to worldly desire), but an intention for such deliverance ;
it is a grace of the spirit. Thus purity of the will is the
greatest of all virtues, and the foundation of all. Similarly,
the Perfect Conduct (Glla-paramita), which is the subject
of this chapter, consists essentially in the will to hurt no
living creature.

i (20) Morality is higher than charity, patience than morality,

fi etc., and the aspirant to Buddhahood must not practise

< charity at the expense of morality, and so on. But this

rule has an exception. The essential principle of the divine

Bodhi-sattvas' conduct is sikshd-samvara, "right and holy

NOTES 99

conduct," the dyke which holds in their place the " waters of
righteousness " ; and this principle must never be infringed
by the aspirant's action.

(21) The aspirant, having collected alms of food by begging
from door to door, will divide it into four parts, one for each
of the three classes here mentioned, and one for himself. The
three robes allowed to Buddhist devotees are of yellow rags.

(22) Namely, a person whose compassion is excited
Merely in connection with friends, enemies, the unfortunate,
etc. The aspirant devotes his whole self to the welfare of
fellow-creatures, but this gift must not be too hastily given.
It should be reserved for occasions when it will assist to
enlightenment, etc., another aspirant of equal or greater
power for good.

(23) The fundamental principle of Hindu medicine, like
that of the Greeks, is the existence of three " humours "
(dosha, dhatu), namely, wind, gall, and slime, which when
in equipoise cause health, and when disturbed produce
sickness.

(24) Here comes a polemic against the Sankhya and the
Vedanti schools. The former divide existence into primal
Matter and individual souls which by connection with the
former assume the functions of finite thought. The Ve-
dantis believe in a single universal soul or Brahma, essentially
indeterminate, which by the operation of the cosmic Illusion
(Maya) differentiates itself into individual finite souls.
Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent soul, sub-
stituting for it a succession of instants of consciousness.

(25) It may be objected that if all action is a purely
mechanical result of previously existent forces, the action
of the mind in hatred, etc., is also mechanical, and cannot
be checked, and hence the peace and salvation of the spirit
are unattainable. But this is not the case, according to
our author. Existence is a series of forces proceeding one
from the other (the pratitya-samutpdda ; but by arresting
one of these the individual arrests all subsequent forces as
far as he is concerned ; and the primary force is ignorance.

100 NOTES

(26) If I save myself from hell by refraining from retalia-
tion upon those who wrong me, the merit of this is mine ;
and their merit, which consists in forcing me to suffer and
expiate my guilt from former deeds, is not lessened by this
merit of mine.

(27) The objector claims that, while he admits the merits
of the person praised, he cannot abide the pleasure which
the eulogist feels in praising him. But this is a sin. To
every man must be given his just reward, both in this and
other worlds ; and both the eulogy and the eulogist's jojr
are part of the reward of the person eulogised.

(28) The presence of a pravrajaka, an ascetic who has
himself withdrawn from the world, causes us to perform
the pravrajya, i.e. to take from him the vows of his ascetic
order and become a monk in his company.

(29) Living creatures are a "domain" (kshetra) for the
acquisition of merit by the aspirants to enlightenment ; for
merit is gained by showing love, charity, etc., towards them.
The Buddhas or " Conquerors " (Jina) are likewise a " do-
main " ; merit is gained by doing service to them. (Cf. note
7 above.)

(30) Both Buddhas and inferior creatures alike assist the
aspirant to win merit and become a Buddha himself. True,
the Buddhas are immeasurably good and great, and are
always consciously beneficent, while other creatures often
are in their intention maleficent. But if v,e measure the
worth of a purpose by its results, noting that wrong-doing
is a " blessing in disguise " to the sufferer, we must conclude
that the purpose of a Buddha's help is not more valuable
to the aspirant than the various motives of other creatures
with whom he has dealings.

(31) This refers to the Eastern custom of keeping fish
alive in tanks until they are needed for the kitchen.

(32) See p. 76.

(33) This is a polemical reference to the Hlna-yana school
of Buddhism, of which the adepts (Sravaka) sought en-
lightenment and Nirvana for themselves and by themselves.

NOTES 101

Is not such a course more rapid and sure than that recom-
mended by our author, in which the aspirant to Buddhahood
deliberately postpones his^ Nirvana in order to work for the
welfare of the world ? Santi-deva here brushes aside this
objection. In his ninth chapter, in a passage omitted in
this translation, he attempts to prove that the Hlna-yana
can atta. ; n neither Nirvana nor suppression of passion.

(34) The sacred kite on which the god Vishnu rides.

(35) A reference to an ordeal hi a well-known legend.

(36) See Dhamma-pada, ch. ii.

(37) Namely, conceptions inspired by sensual love, hatred,
or delusion, which agitate the spirit.

(38) To wit, alms of food and the rags from which is made
the beggar-monk's robe.

(39) This is a play on words. Bala signifies (i) a fool,
and (ii) the morning sun, the red glow of which does not
stain the pure whiteness of the new moon.

(40) The bearers of the funeral bier.

(41) At the hour of death he can fix his thought upon
the Buddha and the Law, without disturbance from the
laments of kinsfolk and friends.

(42) Under the malignant influence of former evil works
men fail to use the opportunity of salvation offered by
their human birth, and after death are reborn in hell or
as lower beings.

(43) The chief of the gods, who dwells in paradise, svarga.

(44) Dhamma-pada, ch. ii.

(45) This refers to the spiritual exercises practised by
the Buddhists, as by other Hindu devotees. In order to
fender the thought immobile and uninfluenced by external
sensations, various physical objects are prescribed to be
rigidly contemplated by it, which, together with the themes
of meditation described above, raise it to a state of still
ecstasy, from which it passes either into a blessed rebirth
or into final Nirvana.

(46) Namely, the Perfections of charity, morality, etc.

(47) This distinction of "veiled" or conventional reality

102 NOTES

(samvriti-satya) and transcendental reality (paramartha-
satya) is shared by the Madhyamikas with the monistio
Vedantis. The former conceives objects as they appear to
the normal intelligence of finite beings ; but this mode of
conception is false when viewed from the standpoint of
transcendental verity, which insists upon the essentially
infinite and inconceivable nature of things. Thus in the
higher reality nothing can be predicated of anything ; all
is inconceivable, " void." Our author here launches upon
a long discussion, omitted in our translation, in which he
argues that the impermanence of finite being, which the
Hina-yana regards as the highest truth, is, from the trans-
cendental standpoint of his school (the Madhyamika) mere
illusion; that the Vijnana-vadis, who hold that nothing
exists but pure absolute thought, are likewise mistaken ;
that the Hina-yana is insufficient in theory and in practice ;
that the conception of an ego held by non-Buddhist philo-
sophers is false ; that the principles upon which various
heretical schools wrongly regard being as based are non-
existent ; and that the only legitimate attitude is that of
the Madhyamikas, with their denial of the validity of the
means of knowledge and their doctrine of a conventional
reality on the one hand and a higher reality or " void "
on the other.

(48) See above, note 4.

(49) The following stanza appears to mean : " In life
there are many precipices, and no true reality" (reading
atatvam) ; " there are contradictions, and can be no true
reality." But as this meaning is somewhat uncertain, I
have omitted it in my translation.

(50) Mara, the embodiment of worldly desire and lust
of the flesh.

(51) The tenth chapter, which follows in the original
Sanskrit, is omitted in this translation, as its 58 verses
contain only prayers for the welfare of all beings for the
sake of the merit acquired by our author in composing this
work. A quotation is given in the Introduction, p. 26 f.

APPENDIX

As an epilogue to the Bodhi-charydvatdra, I
append a translation of the Karikas, or metrical
summary of the main themes of Santi-deva'a
other great work, the Sikshd-samuchchaya.
These verses consist of twenty-eight stanzas in
the anushtubh metre, and may be taken as aa
epitome of the Bodhi-charydvatdra.]

Since both I and my fellow-creatures dread
and hate pain, what is the peculiar quality of
my Self, that I should care for it, rather than
for my fellow-men ?

He that would make an end of sorrow and
come to the bound of happiness must stablish
firmly the root of Faith and immovably set his
thought upon Enlightenment.

The Bodhi-sattva's rule of holiness develope*
from the Maha-yana. Therefore one should know-
its principles, and so be free from evil.

103

104 APPENDIX

Surrender to all creatures thine own person 1
and thy pleasures, yea, and thy righteousness
too, in past, present, and future time ; guard
them, and increase thy holiness.

For the enjoyment of fellow-creatures are
sacrificed our own persons and the like. If they
be not guarded, how can they be enjoyed ? and
can that be a gift that is not enjoyed ?

Therefore to the end that fellow-creatures may
have the enjoyment thereof, one should protect
his own person and the like, by leaving never
the Blest Friend and by studying ever the
Scriptures.

Now what means it to guard one's own person ?
to shun mishap. How is this all found ? by
shunning fruitless effort.

Fulfil this work ever by mindfulness. From
deep reverence springs mindfulness ; and rever-
ence, the glory of the chastened spirit, arises
from an understanding zeal.

" He that hath concentred thought under-

1 The word atma-UhJava, literally "condition of self," i.e.
person or body, properly denotes the plexus of concepts
which collectively form the idea of an individual being as
conceived by himself.

APPENDIX 105

stands what is as it verily is," said the Saint.
Let the spirit turn away from outward action,
and fall never away from its stillness.

Steadfast throughout, mild of spirit, one
should by gentle address win over worthy men,
and thus become acceptable.

The worldly folk who scorn the scion of the
Conqueror and accept him not shall be broiled
in all the hells, like fire hidden under ash.

Therefore the Conqueror in the Ratna-megha
has told in brief the holy rule : " Heedfully avoid
that which gives displeasure to thy fellow-
creatures." 1

Thus to care for one's own person with medi-
cines, clothing, and the like, if it be to indulge the
lust of the flesh, leads to grievous misfortune.

" Let man set himself to good deeds, and withal
know the mean throughout." Through thispre-
ept it is easy for him to guard his enjoyment.

By quenching the lust for issues of thine
own advantage, thy righteousness will be well
guarded. Regret not thy deeds, nor make a
public talk of them.

1 Or, " that whereby fellow-creatures lose their faith."

106 APPENDIX

The Bodhi-sattva will dread gain and honour,
will shun exaltation ; he will have glad faith
Law, and dismiss doubts.

When the body is made pure, it becomes
wholesome for creatures to enjoy, like perfect
spotless rice.

As a crop of grain overgrown by weeds sinks
under disease, and thrives not, so a scion of the
Buddha, if overcome by sin, cannot grow in grace.

What is the " cleansing of our person " ? Cleans-
ing it of evil and sin, in obedience to the words
of the Enlightened. If this endeavour be lacking,
hell awaits us.

Let men be long-suffering, and fain to hear the
Law, then let them withdraw to the forest, strain
the thought on concentred effort, and ponder
upon the uncleanness of the flesh and the like.

Understand how to make clean thy enjoy-
ments, until thy soul be cleansed. Make thy
merit pure by deeds full of the spirit of tender-
ness and the Void. l

1 Acts are to be inspired by knowledge of the Void and
brotherly love. These two requisites (sambhara), the intel-
lectual and the moral, are necessary for spiritual advance-
ment ; one is of no avail without the other.

APPENDIX 107

Full many there are who will take from thee.
If thou hast but little, what of that ? if it give*
not full satisfaction, then it must be increased.

What is increase of the body ? increase
of strength and energy. Increase of enjoyment
is from almsgiving full of the spirit of tenderness
and the Void.

Firstly should a man with care establish
firmly his resolution and purpose ; then with an
attendant spirit of tenderness, he should strive
to increase his merit.

The rule of right conduct worship and the
like should ever be reverently observed. Let
faith and the like be always practised, likewise
brotherly love and the remembrance of the
Buddha.

In short, the weal of fellow-beings in all con-
ditions, the godly gift without worldly desire,
and the Thought of Enlightenment cause right-
eousness to increase.

Perfection arises from constancy in the heedful
effort to make right renunciations, by remem-
brance, by attention, and by true meditation.

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